Pandemic readiness in the US financial services sector: When failure is not an option

Author's Biography

Annie Searle is Senior Vice President and Divisional Executive for Enterprise Risk Services. Her portfolio of responsibilities includes business continuity and technology risk management for the entire company, as well as regulatory and audit assurance for its technology group. She is the chair of Washington Mutual’s crisis management team, a member of the company’s public policy management committee, and executive sponsor of its technology innovation programme. Nationally, Annie represents the company as a member of the BITS Advisory Council for the Financial Services Roundtable, based in Washington DC. She chaired the ‘Pandemic Readiness: Interweaving the Plans’ panel for the Fall 2007 Critical Infrastructure Protection Congress, which included the heads of five critical sectors as well as the Department of Homeland Security. She is a member of the Pacific Northwest Regional Disaster Resilience Advisory Council, and co-chair of the Pacific Northwest Regional Recovery Coalition for Financial Services. She was a member of the project planning team and design working group for the US Treasury Department’s three-week pandemic exercise in autumn 2007.