RAPAPORT... Press Release, NEW YORK: Effective October 1, 2009, the Red Flags Rule, which has been in effect since January 1, 2008, will require jewelry retail businesses to implement a written Identity Theft Prevention Program. The goal of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) program is to prevent thieves from stealing identity information for fraudulent purposes.
Financial institutions and creditors must comply. Under the law, companies that offer credit to their customers, either though in-house financing, branded credit card programs, layaway facilities or any other credit arrangement must comply. Jewelry businesses that only accept credit cards as a form of payment are not considered creditors and therefore do not have compliance obligations.
The rules require any business covered by the rule to establish a written program designed to detect “red flags” that indicate an attempt to steal identity information, and to put in place a program to prevent such thefts. This program must be integrated into the daily operations of the business, and can be tailored to the risks that an individual company's credit program presents. Examples of “Red Flags” include alerts from a credit reporting company about suspicious identification documents, or activity on the Internet that indicates an attempt to access identification information by an unauthorized third party.
Said Cecilia Gardner, president, chief executive officer (CEO) and general counsel of the Jewelers Vigilance Committee (JVC), "The FTC's new regulations require businesses that extend credit to institute a written Red Flag policy program to help to identity and prevent identity theft through credit arrangements. JVC’s website — www.jvclegal.org — will include information and updates about the new Red Flags regulations.
"In addition, JVC is developing an easy-to-use Red Flags compliance program on CD for jewelers that have to comply with these regulations. The CD will include forms and templates for jewelers to customize and adapt for their individual businesses. The CD will be available for sale at a modest cost on JVC’s site. JVC members can purchase our Red Flags CD and all JVC products at deep discounts. JVC’s expert legal compliance team will be available to answer jewelers’ questions." Visit JVC’s website — www.jvclegal.org — for more information about Red Flags requirements and other important legal compliance information and updates pertaining to your jewelry business.
About Jewelers Vigilance Committee
Jewelers Vigilance Committee, founded in 1917, is a not-for-profit legal trade association fulfilling its mission to maintain the jewelry industry’s highest ethical standards. JVC offers dispute mediation and arbitration services for trade and consumers, compliance monitoring and precious metals testing, among many other services. JVC, long considered the industry’s guardian of ethics and integrity is a resource for the entire jewelry industry and its customers as well as an industry representative before government agencies, media and adjunct fields. For more information visit: www.jvclegal.org.
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