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CHAPTER SIX | A DAY UNLIKE ANY OTHER
Everybody was into backup on computers and physical locations, but we were also focused on backing up our future staff. I had conversations at the Fed, with the Bank of England, and at the World Economic Forum in Davos on this topic. Most organizations and people weren’t thinking about that. What could be more important than backing up your human resources? At the time, this was more pointed, given that all but eight DTCC employees were at the 55 Water Street building on that fateful day. The others were based in London. The terrorist attacks made it obvious that
DTCC needed a backup center much further away from Wall Street. In early October 2001, DTCC presented its plans to establish an office outside of the greater New York metropolitan area and selected Tampa, Florida, for its new office. “The board didn’t blink,” Donahue said. “They said, ‘Absolutely you have to do that.’” In response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, in 2002 the Federal Reserve, Department of the Treasury and the US Securities and Exchange Commission issued a white paper. It stated that all clearing and settlement organizations would be required to have out-of-region data recovery and building operations. The federal regulators also set a firm deadline. “Essentially, they were saying this is what is viewed by the federal regulatory community as best practice, and this is what we are expecting you to adhere to in this new world, recognizing how things had changed,” Donahue said. DTCC was already well underway in these preparation plans. The new Tampa office would open in Spring 2003 as a backup data site that could handle full business operations by late 2004. Ultimately, the New York and Tampa offices became a dual operation, with both locations able to fully handle any task. Once again, DTCC’s contingency planning would pay off in the coming years. ■
The events of 9/11 made it clear that DTCC needed a backup center away from the greater New York metropolitan area. In Spring 2003, DTCC opened its backup data site in Tampa, Florida, 1,100 miles away from Manhattan.
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