US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Tuesday backed the Homeland Security Department in categorizing the financial services sector and its workers as essential and critical to the nation's response to the COVID-19 pandemic
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th March, 2020) US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Tuesday backed the Homeland Security Department in categorizing the financial services sector and its workers as essential and critical to the nation's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I strongly support the Department of Homeland Security's recent guidance identifying financial services sector workers as essential critical infrastructure workers during the COVID-19 response emergency," Mnuchin said in a statement. "If you work in a critical infrastructure sector, as defined by the Department of Homeland Security, you have a special responsibility to maintain your normal work schedule."
He described financial services sector workers as those needed to process and maintain systems for processing financial transactions and services, such as payment, clearing and settlement services, wholesale funding, insurance services and capital markets activities.
Essential financial services workers provide consumer access to banking and lending services, including automated teller machines and the movement of Currency through armored cash carriers, Mnuchin said, adding they also supported financial operations, data and security operations centers.
"The American people need access to financial sector services, and state and local governments must ensure the continuity of critical financial sector functions," Mnuchin said. "Everyone should follow guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as state and local officials regarding strategies to limit disease spread."
The Treasury Department's backing for the financial services sector and its workers came after President Donald Trump spoke of the need to reopen the nation at some point from the widespread lockdowns forced by the pandemic, tweeting on Monday that "we cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itself."
