FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

A Treasury Department official on Wednesday, May 21, 2003, will be in Chicago to participate in a joint public-private sector symposium for representatives of financial institutions on security issues and protecting the financial industry from cyber attack.

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Critical Infrastructure Protection and Compliance Policy Michael A. Dawson will speak at Protecting the Financial Sector – A Public and Private Partnership, a symposium scheduled from 8:30 am – 12:30 pm on May 21. Mr. Dawson will speak at 9:10 am at the James R. Thompson Center, 100 W. Randolph St., Chicago, IL.

Sponsored by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the symposium represents an outreach effort by the government’s Financial and Banking Information Infrastructure Committee (FBIIC) and the private sector’s Financial Services Sector Coordinating Council (FSSCC) to private sector financial firms in the Chicago metropolitan area.

At the Treasury Department, Mr. Dawson heads up the Office of Critical Infrastructure Protection, which was established after September 11, 2001 to strengthen the nation’s safeguards against terrorist activities and financial crime.  The Office plays a key role in coordinating public and private efforts to protect the critical infrastructure of the financial services industry from attack.