Success of 7th July business continuity measures must not lead to complacency… “The City stood up well to the test of 7th July: information flowed smoothly between institutions, the FSA, the Bank of England and the Treasury; back up arrangements, when they had to be used, worked; markets operated without interruption, and accommodated high levels of trading,” stated Mr McCarthy. “But we should not be lulled into any complacency: 7 July, for all the heartbreak of more than 50 people murdered and still more maimed, was not an extreme, or even a very taxing, test of financial stability. It was neither aimed at, nor did it have a major impact on, the financial services sector. We cannot count on any future attack being of this nature. It is therefore important we learn lessons from 7th July, and apply those lessons to circumstances which can easily be envisaged and which would constitute a much more severe test.” He continued: “ The principal responsibility lies with the firms and exchanges themselves, to establish and to test – repeatedly – the necessary back up arrangements. But we at the FSA, with the Bank of England and the Treasury, will play our part in three ways: first by ensuring that the three of us individually and collectively are well prepared to respond to disruption; second through identifying and promoting high standards of business continuity planning among regulated firms; and third by strengthening the ability of key participants in the financial markets to co ordinate their responses to disruption through the ambitious programme of annual market-wide scenario exercises we instituted last year. ”
•Date: 22nd September 2005 • Region: UK • Type:
Article •Topic: Terrorism |
