Wyden, Warren Demand FINRA Strengthen Cybersecurity Standards to Prevent ACATS Brokerage Fraud Millions of Americans’ life savings at risk due to a lack of basic online account holder features by leading brokerages Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Elizabeth Warren today called for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) to strengthen consumer protections and prevent Automated Customer Account Transfer Service (ACATS) brokerage fraud. ACATS is an automated system managed by the National Securities Clearing Corporation which allows investors to seamlessly transfer their stocks, bonds, and cash from one brokerage firm to another. Designed to keep brokerages from slowing transfers, ACATS' rapid process also gives fraudsters an opportunity to exploit the system's weak security measures before victims can respond. Under current regulations, brokerages have one business day to validate or object to a transfer request and three business days to complete asset transfers. FINRA recommends, but does not require, that brokerages notify customers before they transfer their assets to another company. Most firms rely on a bare-bones electronic verification process and do not verify the transfer with the outgoing account holder. Some do not even notify customers about the transfer of their assets. As a result, the press has reported that fraudsters can open accounts in victims' names and use the ACATS system to drain their investments before they realize what has happened. “It is unacceptable that major brokerage firms are putting customers’ life savings at risk of being ripped off by criminals because of inadequate account protections,” the senators said in their letter to Robert W. Cook, the President and CEO of FINRA. “FINRA must step in to protect consumers.” An analysis conducted by the senators’ offices revealed an inconsistent security landscape, with only a fraction of brokerages voluntarily providing customers with strong protections. While firms like Fidelity