Participation is open to U.S. financial institutions of all sizes including banks, credit unions, brokerages, asset managers, industry associations, and service providers.
Sheltered Harbor’s vision is to expand to other asset classes and geographies over time.
Sheltered Harbor is a not-for-profit, industry-led initiative. Participation is voluntary. We can best protect our customers, ourselves, and the entire U.S. financial system when every financial institution joins.
Regulators support the initiative. Please see the FFIEC Cybersecurity Resource Guide for more information.
The Specification, as well as many resources to help with implementation, is available only to participants.
Join today.
Participation fees to join Sheltered Harbor are minimal. Implementation costs vary by size and complexity of institution as well as infrastructure, operations and skills base.
Click here for annual participation fees.
While effort required varies according to size and complexity as well as pre-existing infrastructure, operations, and skills base, Sheltered Harbor is not especially difficult to implement. Smaller institutions have declared their first Sheltered Harbor milestone in as little as three months, while it takes longer for large, complex institutions.
The key factors are prioritization by top leadership and building a cross-functional team to manage the process. Your team should include operations, technology, information security, risk management, audit and compliance, and other relevant departments.
We’ve developed many resources to help you get Sheltered Harbor Certified as quickly as possible, which you can access as soon as you join:
In addition to the resources available to all participants on our content portal, we have entered into alliance partnerships with advisory and assurance firms to help you plan and implement the standard.
We are also currently developing a solution provider program to help with technology and implementation tools. We will update as they come online.
Yes. If you use a Service Provider for core processing and elect to use their Data Vaulting Solution, you still need to join Sheltered Harbor to receive the services. You also need to develop your own Sheltered Harbor Resiliency Plan in order to achieve Sheltered Harbor Certification.
The following providers are currently developing Sheltered Harbor Vaulting Solutions:
If you do not see your provider, please contact them directly. They may have joined Sheltered Harbor, but not yet made public announcements. If they haven't joined Sheltered Harbor yet, either ask them to do so or send us a note with their contact information and we will reach out to them about joining the initiative.
Check out our Fact Sheet for answers to many questions.
Don't hesitate to get in touch for more information.
For banks and credit unions, Participant fees are determined based on both Participant's total US banking assets and Participant’s total US deposit accounts to more accurately reflect bank size. Below describes current fees applying at each level of Participant’s assets and accounts.
If your operations include brokerage and/or asset management accounts, please check those fee schedules as well, because you will pay a single fee based on the larger of the banking or brokerage or asset management fee calculation.
For securities firms, Participant fees are determined based on both client assets* and the number of clearing clients. The schedule below describes current fees applying at each level of Participant’s assets and accounts.
* Including discretionary and non-discretionary assets
If your operations include banking and/or asset management accounts, please check those fee schedules as well, because you will pay a single fee based on the larger of the banking or brokerage or asset management fee calculation.
Participant fees or asset managers, transfer agents and recordkeepers are determined based on AUM or plan assets. The schedule below describes current fees applying at each level of Participant's AUM or plan assets.
AUM or Plan Assets |
Fee |
Join Sheltered Harbor |
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Online |
Download |
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<$20B | $2,500 | ![]() |
OR | ![]() |
$20B - $50B | $5,000 | ![]() |
OR | ![]() |
$50B - $200B | $15,000 | ![]() |
OR | ![]() |
> $200B | $25,000 | ![]() |
OR | ![]() |
If your operations include banking and/or brokerage accounts, please check those fee schedules as well, because you will pay a single fee based on the larger of the banking or brokerage or asset management fee calculation.
Sheltered Harbor standards, best practices, and other materials are developed by collaborative working groups, composed of subject matter experts, mainly from Sheltered Harbor participant institutions and partners.
The working groups are highly active, meet often, and produce concrete deliverables. Therefore, joining is a real commitment. In return, members get to shape the development of the standard, build their own skills and expertise in various aspects of cyber resilience, and grow their professional networks through substantive work with peers around the country.
Current Working Groups:
If you are a participant interested in joining a working group, please contact Sheltered Harbor at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Sheltered Harbor has engaged several advisory and/or assurance firms as Alliance Partners to help participants with implementation.
We will continue to expand relationships with assurance and advisory firms in an effort to support the market with a broad menu of options, so keep checking for updates.
Deloitte | Advisory | ||
John Gelline | Managing Director, Cyber Risk Services | 571-271-6078 | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
EY | Advisory | ||
Carl Liebel | Executive Director, Financial Services Advisory | 917-969-1802 | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
KPMG | Advisory | ||
Vivek Mehta | Partner, Emerging Technology Risk | 646-239-6088 | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
Promontory | Advisory | ||
Seth Kulakow | Director, Cyber Solutions Practice | 303-947-7096 | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
PwC | Advisory | ||
Ertem Osmanoglu | Principal, Cybersecurity and Privacy | 646-331-1595 | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
RSM | Advisory & Assurance | ||
Hussain T. Hasan | National Leader, Risk Advisory Services - Technology Risk Consulting | 312-634-3700 | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |