The Bank of England, Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) have today published a joint discussion paper on an approach to improve the operational resilience of firms and financial market infrastructures. The tripartite group is looking for better standards of operational resilience through increased focus on setting, monitoring and testing specific impact tolerances for key business services, which define the amount of disruption that could be tolerated.

Organisations are keenly aware of the increasing threat of crises, yet many may overestimate their capabilities to respond. This is among the conclusions of Deloitte's latest crisis management survey, which found that 60% of organisations face more crises today than they did ten years ago.

The winners of the 20th annual Business Continuity Awards have been revealed at a Gala Dinner and Ceremony in London's Mayfair. This year's Lifetime Achievement award was presented to Steve Mellish, while the Business Continuity Manager of the Year gong went to Nicky Russell of RBS. More...

RSA has received licence approval for its new subsidiary in Luxembourg from local regulator, the Commissariat aux Assurances (CAA). The new subsidiary has been established in preparation for the UK’s exit from the European Union. Existing EU branch business of RSAI PLC will be transferred to RSA Luxembourg (RSAL) by way of a Part VII Transfer and then directly onto the RSAL licence from 1st January 2019.

The effects of the recent Beast from the East have exposed just how vulnerable some parts of our highways infrastructure can be to extreme weather conditions. Highways claims continue to be a key risk area and having a robust claims management approach to highways claims is essential to any local authority risk manager.

Fusion Risk Management has launched a cloud-based managed solution designed to help crisis management, business continuity and disaster recovery professionals connect its system with OnSolve's Send Word Now notification system.

With 23 days until GDPR comes into force, credit reference agency Equifax is urging businesses to engage with their suppliers urgently. It says for any businesses using credit reference agency services – whether credit checking or identity verification, steps must be taken to ensure continuity of service. Data protection officer at Equifax, Steve Martin, says any businesses that share credit data that haven’t yet engaged with their CRA must do so as a matter of urgency, as it’s essential that they direct customers and prospective customers to the right information on how their data will be shared with and used by CRAs.

Quite a number of companies that I speak to tell me that their business continuity plan is to send everyone home and ask them to work from there in the event of an incident. For all companies these days, even regulated ones, a significant proportion of their staff can quite happily work from home. However, a core of the business still needs to work closely (physically) together. This is most often the crisis management team and core business functions and generally works out to be around 10% of staff, depending on the industry.

Some 57% of global organisations do not have appropriate visibility of subcontractors engaged by their third parties, according to a new survey from Deloitte. A further 21% are unsure of oversight practices, and fewer still (2%) routinely review the risk subcontractors pose to their organisation. Reliance on third parties, meanwhile, continues to grow.

The shortlist for the 2018 Business Continuity Awards has been announced. Now in their 20th year, the Business Continuity Awards recognise those business continuity, security, resilience and risk professionals whose innovative strategies and industry savvy make them stand out above the rest. This year's sponsors include Barclays, The City of London Corporation, ClearView Continuity, CMAC Business Continuity Transport, Daisy, Fortress Availability Services, Fusion, PlanB Consulting and Sungard Availability Services and Yudu.

Rothstein’s latest book aims to meet a critical business need with its structured approach to emergency evacuations. Writing about his own encounters with evacuations, author Jim Burtles expresses concern over the confusion that is so evident during an incident, and the widespread panic that can ensue when proper process is not put in place.

Storm Emma created some of the most testing weather conditions experienced in the UK for years, grinding many organisations to a halt and causing many to invoke business continuity plans to remain operational. It also exposed a number of shortfalls in plans, according to Databarracks. It says almost half of those organisations would have struggled due to their business continuity plan being outdated or recently untested. Its data suggests that just half of UK organisations are confident that their business continuity plan is up-to-date.

Weather warnings are expected for the rest of the working week, as the so-called Beast from the East continues to wreak havoc in parts of the UK. Hundreds of schools are shut, and road conditions remain dangerous up and down the country. Amber and yellow warnings have been issued by the Met Office, with London and the South East badly affected.

Former Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon has called on the government to spend more on Britain's Armed Forces, and at the same time, chief of the general staff, General Sir Nicholas Carter, pointed to a return of cold war tensions with Russia and raised the prospect of hostilities between the country and NATO forces.

The long awaited update to ISO 31000 has just been released. Chair of the iSO technical committee, Jason Brown, says the revised version of ISO 31000 focuses on the integration with the organisation and the role of leaders and their responsibility. “Risk practitioners are often at the margins of organisational management and this emphasis will help them demonstrate that risk management is an integral part of business,” he explains.