The Bank of New York Mellon may have failed to protect millions of customers' personal financial records.

This is an ongoing investigation that has already led to a pending class action against The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation.

Bank of New York Mellon reported two massive security breaches at the company. Bank of New York Mellon processes payments and other transactions on behalf of its corporate clients, and provides stock transfer, employee plan administration, and related services for issuers of securities. In connection with those duties, Bank of New York Mellon comes into the possession of the Social Security numbers, bank account, and other financial information (the 'Sensitive Personal Information') of millions of consumers. According to the class action complaint, a Bank of New York Mellon metal box containing six to ten unencrypted computer back-up tapes containing the Sensitive Personal Information of 4.5 million consumers was "lost" from a truck operated by a courier company hired by Bank of New York Mellon. The class action complaint alleges that Bank of New York Mellon did not begin notifying consumers of this known security breach until mid-April.

In late April, 2008, yet another security breach occurred at Bank of New York Mellon, this time involving a back-up data storage tape containing images of scanned checks and other payment documents that was "lost" while in transit, according to the complaint. The class action complaint alleges that Bank of New York Mellon has revealed that the April security breach "may" involve consumers' Social Security numbers. The class action lawsuit seeks class action status on behalf consumers whose Sensitive Personal Information was accessed and/or compromised by third parties while entrusted to Bank of New York Mellon.

The class action claims include relief for (i) Bank of New York Mellon's alleged failure to provide appropriate safeguards to adequately protect the Sensitive Personal Information of class members, (ii) Bank of New York Mellon's alleged unreasonable delay in notifying consumers of the security breaches, and (iii) Bank of New York Mellon's alleged failure to provide Plaintiffs and class members with full, meaningful, and appropriate relief under the circumstances.

If you have been notified by The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation that your sensitive personal information may have been compromised in one of the recent data breaches, please contact us.