Information for Members

As of March 27, Governor Burgum has not issued a “shelter in place order”; however, Minnesota's and Montana's governors have.

The following information is to help your bank in the event North Dakota were to implement such an order.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) guidance as to the 16 categories of “Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers during the COVID-19 Response” includes “financial services” as a category and describes the workers as follows:

Workers who are needed to process and maintain systems for processing financial transactions and services (e.g. payment, clearing, and settlement; wholesale funding; insurance services; and capital markets activities)
Workers who are needed to provide consumer access to banking and lending services, including ATMs, and to move currency and payments (e.g., armored cash carriers)
Workers who support financial operations, such as those staffing data and security operations centers.

Banks should review the CISA description to identify who among their staff fit under this category and consider them individuals who should report to work. Then, for those individuals, the bank should consider doing the following:

First, on your bank’s letterhead, dated and signed by the President or CEO of the bank, write a letter similar to the example provided below, identifying the employee as essential.
- COVID-19 Financial Services Credential Letter
Second, staple the Treasury Secretary’s memo to the letter and give original copies to all covered employees.
- Department of the Treasury Memo for Financial Services Sector
Third, if your bank issues employee photo IDs, ask covered employees to carry those IDs on their person at all times. If your bank does not issue employee photo IDs, ask covered employees to carry business cards with their name and the bank’s name at all times.
Finally, all covered employees should have a state-issued form of identification on their person at all times.