IT Services for Financial Services & Banking
GLBA, SOX, and SEC/FINRA-compliant IT for banks, credit unions, RIAs, insurance agencies, and financial advisors.
IT Services for Financial Services Organizations
Cybersecurity
GLBA Safeguards Rule compliance, encryption, access controls, and audit logging. We produce documentation that satisfies regulatory examinations from FINRA, SEC, and state banking commissioners.
Learn MoreManaged IT
Proactive monitoring for trading systems, core banking platforms, CRM, and client portals. Financial services operations run on systems that cannot tolerate outages during market hours.
Learn MoreCloud Services
Compliant cloud infrastructure for financial firms moving off aging on-premises servers. Microsoft Azure and Microsoft 365 configurations that meet GLBA and SEC requirements.
Learn MoreIT in the Financial Services Industry
Financial services firms operate inside one of the most complex regulatory environments in American business. A registered investment advisor with 50 clients faces SEC examination requirements, FINRA oversight if affiliated with a broker-dealer, GLBA Safeguards Rule compliance, state investment advisor registration conditions, and, as of December 2023, the SEC's new cybersecurity disclosure rules requiring public companies to report material cyber incidents within four business days of determining materiality. The IT documentation burden alone can overwhelm a small advisory firm that has not built systems to produce it.
The GLBA Safeguards Rule, substantially updated in 2023, requires financial institutions to implement a comprehensive information security program with specific technical components. The updated rule is explicit where the original was vague: multi-factor authentication is required for any employee accessing customer financial data remotely. Customer data must be encrypted in transit and at rest. Access must be controlled based on minimum necessary access, with a formal access control policy. An annual penetration test and quarterly vulnerability assessments are required for organizations above certain size thresholds. A designated qualified individual must oversee the program and report annually to the board. These are not principles. They are specific, auditable requirements that examiners from state banking departments and federal regulators check against documented evidence.
FINRA's branch office examination program has elevated cybersecurity scrutiny significantly since 2022. The focus areas are phishing response, multi-factor authentication, vendor risk management, and incident response plan testing. FINRA examiners expect to see documented evidence that the firm tested its incident response plan within the last 12 months, not a plan that exists on paper but has never been exercised. SEC cybersecurity examinations cover similar ground with additional focus on the firm's risk assessment process and the board-level reporting structure for cybersecurity. For credit unions, NCUA examiners use the Automated Cybersecurity Examination Tool to assess security controls. Community banks face OCC and FDIC examinations that include technology components and reference the FFIEC IT Examination Handbook. The practical challenge for most financial services firms is that they need to be audit-ready on an ongoing basis, not just in the weeks before an examination. IT systems that generate the logs, produce the access reports, and document the patch management history are what make exam preparation manageable.
Verticals: Registered investment advisors, independent broker-dealers, insurance agencies, community banks, credit unions, mortgage companies, financial planning practices, family offices
Compliance & Regulatory Requirements
GLBA Safeguards Rule
The updated 2023 GLBA Safeguards Rule requires financial institutions to designate a security officer, conduct annual risk assessments, implement MFA for remote access, encrypt customer data, conduct penetration testing, and maintain an incident response plan. Community banks, credit unions, insurance agencies, and investment advisors are all covered.
SEC Cybersecurity Rules
The SEC's December 2023 cybersecurity disclosure rules require public companies to report material cyber incidents within four business days of determining materiality, and to disclose annually their cybersecurity risk management processes and board oversight. Investment advisors face separate SEC examination requirements around information security program documentation.
FINRA Oversight
FINRA examinations increasingly focus on cybersecurity controls at broker-dealers and their branch offices. Examiners expect documented MFA enforcement, tested incident response plans, vendor security due diligence, and phishing simulation programs. Branch offices face the same security requirements as headquarters under FINRA's framework.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the updated GLBA Safeguards Rule require from financial advisors?
Financial advisors covered by GLBA must designate a qualified individual to oversee the information security program, conduct a written risk assessment, implement MFA for remote access to customer data, encrypt customer financial data, conduct annual penetration testing (for larger firms), maintain patch management, and have a tested incident response plan. The designated individual must report to the board at least annually on program status. These requirements apply to RIAs, insurance agencies, mortgage brokers, and other non-bank financial institutions.
When does the SEC cybersecurity disclosure rule apply to our firm?
The SEC's 2023 cybersecurity disclosure rules apply to public companies reporting to the SEC. If your firm is publicly traded or files with the SEC as a reporting company, you must disclose material cyber incidents within four business days of determining materiality, and include annual disclosure about your cybersecurity risk management processes and board oversight structure. Registered investment advisors face separate examination requirements from the SEC, but the incident disclosure timeline in the December 2023 rule applies specifically to public companies.
How do financial services firms prepare for FINRA cybersecurity examinations?
FINRA examination preparation requires documented evidence of: MFA enforcement on all remote access, a written incident response plan that was tested in the last 12 months (tabletop exercise or simulation), vendor security due diligence process with documented questionnaires for key technology vendors, phishing simulation results and follow-up training for users who click, and patch management records showing vulnerabilities are addressed within defined timeframes. Firms that maintain these records as part of normal operations rather than assembling them before an examination are in a much better position.
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