The Federal Trade Commission will suspend enforcement of the new "Red Flags Rule" until May 1, 2009, to give creditors and financial institutions additional time in which to develop and implement written identity theft prevention programs.

The rule was developed pursuant to the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions (FACT) Act of 2003. Under the rule, financial institutions and creditors with covered accounts must have identity theft prevention programs to identify, detect, and respond to patterns, practices, or specific activities that could indicate identity theft. The rule applies to creditors and financial institutions.

Today's announcement does not affect other federal agencies' enforcement of the original Nov. 1 deadline for institutions subject to FTC oversight to be in compliance.

The deadline was extended in part because of confusion among some companies as to their necessity to comply with FTC rules. Because these firms did not become aware of their eligibility under FTC jurisdiction until recently, many complained they would be unable to meet the Nov. 1 deadline for compliance.

The Federal Trade Commission works for consumers to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop and avoid them.