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ARTICLE · 14 SEPTEMBER 2008

Utilities: Uncle Sam Is Asking, “Are Your Red Flags Ready To Fly By November 1, 2008”?

Foley & Lardner LLP
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Utility companies might be dangerously unaware that they have a looming deadline for compliance with complex new federal regulations.

United StatesEnergy and Natural Resources
Foley & Lardner
Foley & Lardner
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Utility companies might be dangerously unaware that they have a looming deadline for compliance with complex new federal regulations. These "Red Flag" rules require utility companies to adopt and implement a broad identity theft prevention system by November 1, 2008.

Why Utilities?

The Red Flag rules were easy for utilities to overlook because they were adopted under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (FACTA), a statute intended generally to extend and update the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Additionally, the Red Flag rules were issued jointly by various federal agencies that regulate the financial industry, including the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Federal Reserve System, and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and thus appear to be directed at banks, mortgage lenders, and other financial institutions. But they are not so limited. Any "creditor" with "covered

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