U.S. banking regulators propose requiring banks to immediately flag computer breaches

FILE PHOTO: A man walks past the Federal Reserve Bank in Washington, D.C., U.S. December 16, 2015. The Federal Reserve recorded more than 50 cyber breaches between 2011 and 2015, with several incidents described internally as "espionage", according to records obtained by Reuters. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

U.S. banks would have no longer than 36 hours after finding a cybersecurity breach to flag the issue to their regulators, under a new rule proposed Friday.

The proposal from U.S. banking regulators would direct banks to notify their primary regulator as soon as possible after a breach is discovered that could impair services or the organization itself. In addition, the rule would direct third-party service providers to promptly tell client banks of any breaches that would impair their services.

(Reporting by Pete Schroeder; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)