Compliance Coach Launches Gramm-Leach-Bliley Compliance Solution For Financial Services Institutions.

Business Editors/Hi-Tech Writers

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 10, 2000

Privacy Insiders Launch 'Privacy University' product to provide

low-cost, comprehensive solution to privacy compliance

The nation's leading financial services privacy experts today unveiled a highly anticipated Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) compliance product that will lessen the financial burden of complying with the newly enacted law and dramatically expedite the entire process, allowing financial services institutions to meet the quickly approaching mandated deadline.

With the landmark GLBA becoming effective Nov. 13, with full compliance required by July 1, 2001, Compliance Coach, recognized as the nation's leading regulatory compliance resource and training company in the financial services industry, today launched its new product - Privacy University (PrivacyU.com).

PrivacyU.com provides answers to the key challenge voiced by financial services institutions across the country since the new privacy law was passed: How to comply with the complex regulation in a cost-effective and efficient way that will maintain the individual's trust that their financial institution is protecting their privacy.

"In creating PrivacyU.com, we've responded to the financial services industry's urgent need for a comprehensive, cost-effective solution," said Sai Huda, chairman and CEO of Compliance Coach, which created PrivacyU.com. "Complying with GLBA is a daunting task given the short compliance deadline and the extensive new requirements. Compliance is a must to avoid not only regulatory enforcement action but the ultimate death penalty, loss of consumer trust. Those organizations that tap into Privacy University will be able to turn the privacy challenge into a competitive advantage."

New privacy regulations under GLBA, for the first time, require

all financial institutions to:

-- Develop written policies regarding privacy;

-- Provide consumers and customers with a clear and conspicuous initial and
annual notice of these privacy policies and, if non-public personal information
is shared with non-affiliated third parties, the ability to opt-out of such
sharing;

-- Establish administrative, technical and physical safeguards to protect the
privacy of customers' nonpublic personal information;

-- Rigorously train all employees on the new regulations to ensure full
compliance with the law;

-- Achieve full compliance with GLBA no later than July 1, 2001.

The new law mandates compliance by approximately a quarter of a million financial service businesses, including all banks, thrifts and credit unions, as well as entities such as consumer finance companies, mortgage lenders, mortgage brokers, insurance agents, real estate agents, stock brokers, financial planners, etc.

PrivacyU.com is a comprehensive regulatory solution to privacy compliance. It is a cost-effective, interactive, anytime-anywhere, automated training solution for the regulatory-required training - developed by the nation's leading regulatory and privacy experts. Covered financial services businesses subscribe to PrivacyU.com by paying an annual subscription fee. For this fee, they receive access to a private, password-protected Web site, or obtain a CD-ROM, and receive:

-- Online tools that help an institution create the mandated

privacy policies, disclosures and opt-out notices;

-- Comprehensive and interactive online training courses on the

new GLBA and other privacy rules (such as COPPA, FCRA,

Identity Theft, Information Security, Canadian and European

Union Data Directive) for training the entire organization.

The training can be customized to incorporate an institution's

specific privacy policies and procedures, if desired;

-- Automated scoring, tracking, and detailed analytical reporting

to document an audit trail of regulatory compliance and

measure learning performance;

-- Separate training tracks directed toward management and

frontline personnel, along with audio recordings of previous

privacy seminars to provide the user with the maximum learning

choice and convenience;

-- Certification and quarterly retesting to establish and

maintain a standard of knowledge in the organization, keep

current on the privacy rules, and enhance performance and

career development;

-- Access to a comprehensive Knowledge Vault of over 500

frequently asked questions relating to the GLBA and other

privacy rules accessible during the online training or

anytime.

The company that created the proprietary Privacy University product, Compliance Coach, is comprised of the nation's leading financial services regulatory and privacy experts including:

-- Sai Huda, founder, chairman & CEO, who is one of the nation's

foremost regulatory compliance and privacy experts. He is a

highly sought after speaker on the speakers circuit and

frequently consulted by the media and the industry. Most

recently Mr. Huda was asked to speak at and chair BAI's

nationwide seminars on the new privacy regulations. He was

joined by key representatives from all of the regulatory

agencies (FDIC, FTC, FRB, OCC, OTS, SEC & NCUA) that were

involved with drafting the new privacy regulations. Mr. Huda

also directed and authored the industry's first online privacy

study to assess compliance and identify best practices, and

the industry's first consumer information sharing practices

study.

-- Paul Reymann, executive vice president, who is one of the

nation's leading financial institutions regulatory experts,

most recently with the Department of Treasury's Office of

Thrift Supervision in Washington D.C. He is a highly sought

after speaker frequently invited to share his knowledge of

matters relating to technology and credit risk, electronic

banking, and information security and privacy. He is co-author

of the Section 501 Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) privacy

regulation and has authored several technical papers and

articles on technology and credit risk, privacy and Internet

banking.

-- Ed Schmelzer, executive vice president, who is recognized as

one of the nation's foremost regulatory attorneys. Previously,

Mr. Schmelzer spent more than 25 years practicing law and

serving as the regulatory legal advisor to some of the

nation's premier financial institutions, that included not

only some of the nation's top banks, thrifts, credit unions

but also monoline credit card companies, securities firms and

secondary marketing institutions. Prior to that Mr. Schmelzer

was an Attorney with the Board of Governors of the Federal

Reserve System in Washington, D.C. Mr. Schmelzer is especially

recognized for his legal expertise in consumer compliance

laws, in particular the new GLBA Privacy regulations and the

Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

Among its many features, the key benefit PrivacyU.com provides to financial services institutions is cost savings. The GLBA represents a significant compliance challenge and cost for the covered entities, especially the need to train employees to ensure actual compliance. For example, Bank One, the fourth largest bank in the U.S., estimates that it will cost $55 million to comply, including training 85,000 employees. According to the ABA, total banking industry compliance costs alone are estimated to be over $1.25 billion.

In beta testing, PrivacyU.com has saved companies as much as 75 percent of the expected costs of complying with the regulations, and helped organizations to eliminate the man-hours required to develop, deploy, score, track and report privacy training for all staff.

Even before its official launch, PrivacyU.com has received endorsements from some of the nation's most admired financial services organizations, including America's Community Bankers (ACB), IHS Financial and Privacy Council.

For more information, log on to www.privacyu.com.

About Compliance Coach:

Compliance Coach is the leading regulatory compliance resource and training company in the financial services industry. It has been recognized by the industry for its' regulatory compliance expertise. Compliance Coach prides itself on being "first" to provide the industry with timely, value-creating knowledge solutions leveraging its knowledge experts with the latest technology to minimize costs and mitigate risks.