There are a number of capabilities that underpin this collaborative approach to a sector-wide response, though the umbrella to all of them is the Sector Response Framework (SRF).

We recently took part in SIMEX22, a two-day market wide simulation exercise to test the UK financial sector’s resilience to a major operational disruption. In preparation for this exercise, the Cross Market Operational Resilience Group (CMORG) embarked on an awareness campaign to promote its key sector response capabilities. Developed by industry for industry, these range from good practice guidance, such as the principles for an operationally paralysed firm, to response protocols like the SRF.

Here we explore UK Finance’s role in the SRF in more detail, and some of our key committees and groups which support the sector during a systemic incident.

Business and Operational Continuity Committee (BOCC)

The BOCC is UK Finance’s primary forum to discuss activities related to the operational continuity of not only member firms but also the wider sector. It has an in-crisis element that involves keeping members up to date with developing incidents, and an out-of-crisis function which focuses on sharing policies, procedures and practices that assist firms in returning to BAU operations after an operational incident.

Incident communications

UK Finance has a key role in coordinating communications on behalf of the banking and finance sector in the event of a systemic incident. In doing so we coordinate with all major stakeholders, members, authorities and FMIs.

Financial Sector Cyber Collaboration Centre (FSCCC)

The FSCCC is responsible for assessing the impact of cyber incidents affecting the financial sector that have the potential to cause a systemic impact. The group supports communication and collaboration to strengthen cyber resilience and coordinates actions to bring together industry partners and authorities.

Cash Services

Cash Services assesses the impact of an incident on cash supply. It facilitates decisions in relation to issues that have cross-industry impact. These include . communications, high-level data sharing and areas requiring coordinated industry activity.

These groups support the wider collective response as part of the SRF governance structure outlined in this schematic. They form the basis for a strategic collective response driven from the Bank of England’s Cross Market Business Continuity Group (CMBCG) and onwards to our roles across sector and consumer communication. They coordinate closely with other trade associations, as well as invoking other responses through BOCC, FSCCC and Cash Services depending on the nature of the systemic incident.

A description of all response groups, including information about their triggers and invocation processes, can be found in our “Sector Response Framework: Core Response Groups” document. Please email enquiries@cmorg.org.uk if you wish to receive a copy. To receive a response, you must use an industry email address and be a direct industry participant. For more information and access to wider sector response capabilities, you can find these here on CMORG’s LinkedIn page.

*CMORG-endorsed capabilities (including best practice guidance, response frameworks and contingency tools) have been developed collectively by industry to support the operational resilience of the UK financial sector. Their use is voluntary, and they do not constitute formal regulatory rules or supervisory expectations.