We were very interested in a recent speech by Duncan Mackinnon of the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), which set out where firms are expected to focus as they work towards building operational resilience by March 2025.
Of particular note were his comments on scenario testing, which lists some key features that are expected. These appear to be:-
Assume disruption has occurred.
Should include data integrity issues.
Should incorporate third party disruption.
Should consider factors beyond the firm’s control.
Should be challenging, and ask what might happen if back up arrangements do not function as anticipated.
Should include cases where multiple parts of the organisation are disrupted simultaneously.
The form of testing a firm uses must be robust and appropriate, broadly in line with its potential to impact the firm’s important business services and the wider system. For high impact important business services within systemic firms, desktop testing is ultimately unlikely to be sufficient.
Aldbury International has a long and proven track recordits GHOST simulations that tick all of these boxes. As such we are delighted that our unique approach has enabled many of our financial clients, who are in-scope , to be significantly ahead of the regulators demands.
A full transcript of the speech given by Duncan Mackinnon can be found here: https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/speech/2022/may/duncan-mackinnon-speech-at-the-city-and-financial-9th-annual-operational-resilience