While UBS maintains the strictest banking secrecy policies in Switzerland, its policies across Europe and especially the United States are comparable.[1] Within the U.S., the bank is prohibited from disclosing client activities and information both internally and through regulation imposed by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), U.S. Treasury, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and various U.S. state regulators.[206] UBS employees are prohibited from discussing client activity or information publicly, sharing information across borders, retaining client information insecurely and required to maintain robust bank-client confidentiality agreements.[206] In 2018, UBS operations within the U.S. were ranked second on the Financial Secrecy Index, following UBS Switzerland AG.[3] Within the European Union (E.U.), UBS operations maintain similar banking secrecy policies to Switzerland in the following countries and crown dependencies: Jersey, Austria, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Monaco, and the Isle of Man.[207] Substantial, albeit greatly reduced, banking secrecy provisions are afforded to UBS operations in France, Germany, Ireland, and the Netherlands.[207]