New report highlights need for business resilience

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) issued a new white paper that calls for the financial industry to make business resilience, an organization’s ability to safeguard its critical services, a priority.

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The paper, titled Resilience First, warns that disruptions to critical business services could create market instability. It says a paradigm shift is required to protect the global financial system from the significant threats posed by cyber-attacks, the rapid development and adoption of new technologies, the increased interconnectedness of the financial ecosystem, and growing industry-wide concentration risks, among other dynamics.

“With the threat of potential disruptions continuing to grow, firms can no longer afford to focus on disaster recovery, business continuity management and cybersecurity in isolation,” Dan Thieke, managing director, Business Risk & Resilience Management, said. “Resilience initiatives should look holistically at threats and aim to safeguard critical business services against a wide range of technical, physical, logical, or financial disruptions.”

DTCC, a company that provides market infrastructure for the financial services industry, said a collaborative approach to business resilience is required. Business resilience efforts should be broadened to include all relevant stakeholders and incorporate resilience into the initial design of new products and services. The paper discusses the core principles and guidelines to further resilience efforts.

“We are committed to leveraging our experience to lead the discussion on the evolution of industry-wide resilience. This is a key strategic enabler that is consistent with our mission to deliver the world’s most resilient and secure post-trade infrastructure for our clients,” Thieke said.