October 2019
The .BANK and .INSURANCE TLDs are operated by fTLD Registry Services, LLC (fTLD)—a coalition of banks, insurance companies and financial services trade associations from around the world—which ensures it is governed in the best interests of banks and insurance companies and their customers (together, the Community). fTLD’s mission is to operate trusted, verified, more secure and easily-identifiable online locations for the Community.
fTLD was granted the right to operate .BANK on September 25, 2014, and .INSURANCE on February 19, 2015, and launched the TLDs in 2015 and 2016 respectively. fTLD operates .BANK and .INSURANCE for the benefit of the Community and in accordance with the Community Registration Policies (Specification 12) that are part of the respective Registry Agreements between fTLD and ICANN, which are accessible here: https://www.fTLD.com/legal/.
In addition, fTLD has steadfastly committed to implement various control mechanisms including registration eligibility requirements, names selection policies, acceptable use / anti-abuse policies and Security Requirements.
fTLD is committed to the fair and equitable treatment of the Community. To this end, fTLD makes the following affirmations to the Community (collectively, Affirmation of Commitments):
Community Governance Commitments
- fTLD is managed by an Operating Manager and Board of Directors consisting of individuals with broad experience in the Community. The Board supports fTLD’s mission consistent with its fiduciary duties.
- fTLD established an Advisory Council (the “Council”) as a mechanism to include Community participation and stakeholder engagement that serves to inform the Board’s policy decisions. The Council provides advice on maintaining the overall quality and consistency of fTLD’s policy framework. A list of members and the Rules and Operating Procedures of the Council are accessible here: https://www.fTLD.com/about/. As initiated by fTLD in 2013, the Council will continue to maintain an open dialogue with the Community.
- fTLD regularly engages and consults with governments and their regulatory authorities with oversight for the Community.
Community Protection Commitments
- To ensure that .BANK and .INSURANCE registrations are made only to organizations that meet and maintain the eligibility requirements, fTLD performs verification upon the initial registration of a domain, annually thereafter, and if certain registration information changes (e.g., Registrant Organization, Registrant Name, Registrant Email). fTLD’s Verification Process Overview is available here: https://www.fTLD.com/verification_process_overview. The respective eligibility requirements and Policies are accessible here: .BANK and .INSURANCE.
- fTLD has reserved a set of domain names in .BANK and .INSURANCE that will either be used in our capacity as set forth in Specification 5 of the Registry Agreements, or may be equitably allocated to members of the community upon approval of fTLD’s Board of Directors in consultation with our Council. fTLD will extend an enhanced rights protection mechanism that will provide trademark owners with the ability to challenge the registration or potential use of these domain names.
- All registrants and use of .BANK and .INSURANCE must adhere to the respective Acceptable Use / Anti-Abuse Policy, which are accessible here: https://www.fTLD.com/policies/.
- Since 2011 fTLD has collaborated with experts in the financial services, security and domain name industries to develop Security Requirements that mitigate, and in some cases prevent, many of the malicious activities propagated on the internet such as phishing and spoofing attacks that can lead to identity theft and financial fraud. fTLD has continued to modify the Security Requirements over time to include new technologies and practices that address the changing needs in security and the evolving threat landscape, with the goal of providing more secure online interactions for all users of .BANK and .INSURANCE domains.
There are two components of the Security Requirements:
Registrant Security Requirements (Domain Name Owners): Registrants that use their domain names (i.e., they resolve on the internet) are required to implement security technologies such as Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC), Encryption/Transport Layer Security (TLS) and Email Authentication.
.BANK Registrant Security Requirements
.INSURANCE Registrant Security Requirements
fTLD Operations Pledge: fTLD and our approved Registrars are required to comply with policies and procedures to ensure the secure, stable and reliable operations of the .BANK and .INSURANCE domains for Registrants.
- In case of changes to fTLD’s Policies that impact Specification 12, Community Registration Policies, of our Registry Agreements with ICANN, fTLD will follow the ICANN Procedure for Community gTLD Change Requests available at: https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/community-gtld-change-requests-procedure-2018-06-01-en in accordance with fTLD’s Policy Development Process Policies.
Community Treatment Commitments
- fTLD’s policies and requirements for registering domain names are transparent, and provide a fair, equitable, and non-discriminatory process for allocating domain names for the benefit of the Community. These Policies and Requirements are accessible here: https://www.fTLD.com/policies/.
- For applicable disputes on the basis of failure to meet or maintain the eligibility or restriction criteria (required by fTLD), fTLD developed in consultation with the Community through our Council the respective Registration Eligibility Dispute Resolution Policies accessible here: https://www.fTLD.com/policies/.