The U.S. Department of the Treasury and Israel's Ministry of Finance entered into a bilateral partnership aimed at safeguarding critical financial infrastructure and countering ransomware threats. This announcement coincided with the creation of the U.S.-Israeli Task Force on FinTech Innovation and Cybersecurity.
Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo and his Israeli counterparts stated that the joint effort will be committed to supporting robust FinTech innovation while combating state and criminal cyber actors. As an initial step, the Task Force will develop a Memorandum of Understanding to support (i) permitted information sharing with respect to the financial sector, including cybersecurity information, (ii) training and "study visits" to encourage cooperation in the area of cybersecurity and the financial system, and (iii) activities designed to promote cybersecurity competency-building efforts (e.g., cross-border exercises "linked to global financial institutions financial and investment flows").
Treasury also stated that the Task Force will provide a series of "expert technical exchanges" designed to foster FinTech innovation that can include robust cybersecurity protections and improve compliance with AML, counterterrorist financing, and countering the financing of proliferation. These exchanges will look at how cyber analytics and FinTech firms are "mitigat[ing] illicit finance risk and . . . enhanc[ing] public sector analytical and enforcement activities."
Mr. Adeyemo said that "increased information exchanges, joint work, and collaboration on policy, regulation, and enforcement are critical" to meeting economic and national security objectives. Treasury noted that this expanded cooperation builds on a "long-standing relationship" with Israel's Ministry of Finance and is connected to the Biden Administration's ongoing effort to counter the ransomware threat.
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