Scenario testing is a core practice within operational resilience, enabling banks such as AmBank to assess their ability to continue delivering critical business services under severe but plausible disruption scenarios.
For CBS-3 Corporate & SME Banking, scenario testing goes beyond traditional IT disaster recovery by examining how combinations of operational, cyber, third-party, people, and regulatory disruptions could impact service delivery to corporate and SME customers.
This approach supports AmBank’s obligations under regulatory expectations for operational resilience, including proactive identification of vulnerabilities and prioritisation of investment in resilience capabilities.
This chapter focuses on applying scenario testing at the Sub-CBS level, ensuring that each detailed process within Corporate & SME Banking is tested against relevant disruption themes.
Particular emphasis is placed on the integration of cyber and ICT risks, recognising the increasing dependency on digital platforms, interconnected systems, and external service providers.
The outcome of scenario testing is not merely tolerance validation but evidence-based decision-making and continuous improvement in resilience.
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Sub-CBS Code |
Sub-CBS |
Recommended Scenario Test Themes |
Impact / Effect |
Evidence of Proactive Risk Management Action |
|
3.1 |
Corporate Lending |
Core banking system outage during the peak loan disbursement period; cyber attack on the loan origination system |
Delay in loan approvals and disbursements; reputational and liquidity impact for corporate clients |
End-to-end lending process mapping; alternate processing procedures; cyber incident response playbooks tested |
|
3.2 |
SME Financing & SME Amplify |
Ransomware attack on SME digital financing platform; third-party fintech service failure |
Inability for SMEs to access financing; potential regulatory complaints |
Segmentation of SME platforms; regular cyber penetration testing; contractual resilience clauses with fintech partners |
|
3.3 |
Cash Management & Deposits |
Payment gateway disruption, combined with data integrity issues, and insider error |
Delayed cash visibility and transaction processing for corporate customers |
Dual-control procedures; data reconciliation checks; ICT resilience testing for cash management systems |
|
3.4 |
Trade Finance & Supply Chain Solutions |
SWIFT network disruption; sanctions screening system failure |
Delayed trade settlements; increased compliance and legal risk |
Alternate communication channels; manual fallback procedures; regular SWIFT outage simulation exercises |
|
3.5 |
Digital & Online Banking Platforms |
Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack; cloud service outage |
Loss of access to digital banking services; customer dissatisfaction |
DDoS mitigation services; multi-region cloud resilience design; stress testing of digital channels |
|
3.6 |
Relationship & Advisory Services |
Unavailability of relationship managers due to the pandemic or site inaccessibility |
Reduced client engagement; potential loss of high-value clients |
Cross-training of staff; remote advisory enablement; workforce continuity testing |
|
3.7 |
Risk & Credit Assessment |
Credit scoring engine failure; corrupted risk data from upstream systems |
Inaccurate credit decisions; increased credit and regulatory risk |
Data lineage documentation; secondary risk assessment tools; periodic data integrity testing |
|
3.8 |
Payments & Settlement Services |
Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) disruption; cyber intrusion affecting payment validation |
Payment delays, liquidity, and systemic risk |
Payment prioritisation rules; alternate clearing arrangements; joint cyber–ICT resilience exercises |
|
3.9 |
Regulatory Reporting & Compliance |
Regulatory reporting system outage near submission deadlines; data breach |
Late or inaccurate submissions; regulatory sanctions |
Regulatory reporting calendar, stress tests, secure data backups, and compliance scenario walkthroughs |
|
3.10 |
Customer Support & Service Operations |
Contact centre system failure; surge in customer queries during cyber incident |
Increased customer complaints; service backlog |
Omni-channel support fallback; crisis communication scripts; customer surge simulation exercises |
Scenario testing for CBS-3 Corporate & SME Banking enables AmBank to validate its ability to remain within defined impact tolerances while continuing to support corporate and SME customers during severe disruptions. By applying realistic scenario themes across each Sub-CBS, AmBank can identify weak points in people, process, technology, data, and third-party dependencies—particularly those arising from cyber and ICT risks.
Importantly, the value of scenario testing lies in the evidence of proactive risk management actions it generates. These include tested fallback arrangements, strengthened cyber controls, improved governance, and targeted investment in resilience capabilities. Collectively, these outcomes demonstrate AmBank’s commitment to operational resilience, regulatory compliance, and the sustained trust of its corporate and SME banking customers.
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Operational Resilience Framework: A Case Study of AmBank Malaysia |
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