Concerns about Wall Street’s ability to withstand a terrorist attack, natural disaster or flu pandemic have prompted Hank Paulson, the new US Treasury secretary, to review the financial market’s disaster-planning.

In one of his first acts in the post, the former Goldman Sachs chief executive has asked the president’s working group on financial markets to assess the improvements made since September 11 2001. This comes amid continued Wall Street concerns – five years after the World Trade Center attacks – about the resilience of power and telecommunications services.