The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) was established in 1979. It was given the authority to "prescribe uniform principles, standards, and report forms for the federal examination of financial institutions" under the authority of five agencies: the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Federal Reserve), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS).

The FFIEC publication: "Information Security IT Examination Handbook" is used by federal examiners auditing the operations of financial institutions for compliance with their obligations. FFIEC’s October 2005 "Authentication in an Internet Banking Environment" guidance (see glossary entry here) will be part of that handbook.