US officials believe the country's banking systems would be able to withstand a terrorist attack due to the disaster recovery and backup systems that have been put in place since September 11 2001.
According to a report by Associated Press, a terrorist strike on a US bank, even a large bank in New York City, would have little impact on the country's banking system. Millions have been spent to develop redundant systems that could take over after an attack to make sure that services are not affected.
Federal Reserve officials also said that during the power blackout in August 2003 that affected more than 50 million people, the nation's financial system was able to keep operating, just as it did when Hurricane Isabel hit the East Coast later that year.
The report says Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told Congress recently that his agency continues to upgrade systems to deal with the "fortunately low but still deeply disturbing possibility" of a new terrorist attack.
The comments follow the US government's warning on Sunday about possible terrorist attacks against financial institutions in New York City, Washington and New Jersey.
The facilities listed included the New York Stock Exchange and Citigroup in New York, Prudential Financial in Newark and the headquarters of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in Washington.