[OR] [RHB] [E1] [C1] Overview of OR Case Study

eBook 1: Chapter 1

Understanding Your Organisation: RHB Bank Case Study

Introduction

RHB Bank Berhad is one of Malaysia’s leading integrated financial services groups, with strong capabilities across retail banking, business banking, investment banking, Islamic banking, asset management, and insurance.

Operating in a highly regulated and interconnected financial ecosystem, RHB Bank plays a critical role in supporting Malaysia’s economic stability, capital market development, and regional financial integration.

This case study sets the context for RHB Bank’s operational resilience journey—moving from organisational understanding to structured implementation.

The intent is to demonstrate how a large, systemically important financial institution can translate regulatory expectations, particularly those outlined in Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) 2025 Discussion Paper on Operational Resilience, into practical, value-adding actions.

Operational resilience at RHB Bank is not positioned as a compliance-only exercise. Instead, it is framed as a strategic capability that strengthens customer trust, safeguards critical financial services, and enables the organisation to absorb, adapt to, and recover from severe but plausible disruptions.

Purpose of this Chapter

This chapter sets the foundation for RHB Bank’s operational resilience journey by focusing on the most critical starting point: understanding the organisation itself.

Before frameworks, impact tolerances, or scenario testing can be meaningfully applied, it is essential to develop a clear and shared view of RHB Bank’s role in the financial system, the services it delivers, and the environment in which it operates.

This chapter pre-empts the reader with the context needed to appreciate why operational resilience is not a generic exercise, but one that must be shaped by the bank’s specific scale, complexity, and customer obligations.

The purpose of this chapter is to equip readers with the mindset and framework required to assess their organisation through an operational-resilience lens.

By the end of this chapter, readers should understand how to identify critical business services, recognise key organisational characteristics and dependencies, and appreciate the governance and team composition needed to support resilience.

This understanding serves as the essential baseline for all subsequent implementation decisions and aligns with the principles outlined in the 2025 BNM Discussion Paper on Operational Resilience.

Understanding Your Organisation: RHB Bank

RHB Bank serves a diverse set of stakeholders, including retail customers, small and medium enterprises, large corporates, institutional investors, and government-linked entities.

Its operations span multiple jurisdictions, channels, and delivery models, supported by complex technology platforms, third-party service providers, and shared services.

In line with the BNM 2025 Discussion Paper, organisational understanding focuses on:

The services that matter most to customers and the wider financial system
The underlying resources that enable these services
The potential impact of disruptions on customers, markets, and financial stability

This understanding underpins the identification of priorities and the setting of realistic resilience objectives.

RHB Bank Operating Environment

RHB Bank operates within a fast-paced, market-sensitive environment characterised by:

High transaction volumes and time-critical processing
Strong reliance on market infrastructure (exchanges, clearing houses, custodians)
Tight regulatory and compliance obligations
Dependence on real-time data, trading platforms, and analytics tools

Key activities include capital markets advisory, equity and debt underwriting, trading, research, and structured products.

Disruptions in this environment—such as system outages, cyber incidents, third-party failures, or extreme market volatility—can quickly translate into financial losses, market conduct risks, and reputational damage.

The BNM discussion paper highlights the need for financial institutions to consider market-wide stress and interconnectedness.

For RHB Investment Bank, this means designing resilience measures that account not only for internal failures but also external shocks affecting financial market infrastructures and key service providers.

Composition of an Operational Resilience Team for RHB Bank

Operational resilience at RHB Bank requires a multi-disciplinary and cross-functional team. Consistent with BNM’s emphasis on strong governance and senior management accountability, the operational resilience team should include:

Board and Senior Management Sponsors: Providing strategic direction, risk appetite alignment, and decision-making authority
Business Owners: Accountable for critical business services and customer outcomes
Risk Management: Integrating operational resilience with enterprise risk management and operational risk frameworks
Business Continuity Management (BCM): Leveraging existing continuity planning, crisis management, and recovery capabilities
Technology and Cybersecurity: Managing system resilience, data integrity, and cyber preparedness
Third-Party Risk Management: Addressing dependencies on vendors, outsourcing partners, and group entities
Compliance and Legal: Ensuring alignment with regulatory expectations and contractual obligations

This collaborative structure ensures that operational resilience is embedded across the organisation rather than siloed within a single function.

Critical Business Services of RHB Bank

Critical Business Services (CBS) are the cornerstone of the operational resilience framework. In line with the BNM 2025 Discussion Paper, a critical business service is defined by its importance to customers and the potential impact of its disruption.

Examples of RHB Bank’s critical business services may include:

Retail and corporate payment services
Deposit-taking and funds withdrawal services
Credit provision and loan disbursement
Capital market execution and settlement services
Digital and online banking access

For each critical business service, RHB Bank must consider:

Who the customers are
What constitutes intolerable disruption
How quickly must service be restored to avoid harm

This customer-centric perspective shifts the focus from internal processes to real-world outcomes.

Key Characteristics of RHB Bank

Several organisational characteristics influence RHB Bank’s approach to operational resilience:

Scale and Complexity: Large customer base, diverse product offerings, and regional operations
High Digital Dependency: Strong reliance on digital channels and core banking platforms
Regulatory Intensity: Oversight by BNM and other domestic and regional regulators
Interconnected Ecosystem: Dependence on financial market infrastructures and third parties

The BNM discussion paper recognises that operational resilience approaches must be proportionate. For RHB Bank, this means adopting robust, well-governed frameworks while ensuring they remain practical and scalable.

Establishing Organisational Goals for Operational Resilience

Establishing clear organisational goals is critical to moving from understanding to implementation. For RHB Bank, operational resilience goals may include:

Protecting customers from unacceptable harm during disruptions
Ensuring continuity of systemically important financial services
Enhancing the bank’s ability to respond to severe but plausible scenarios
Strengthening confidence among regulators, customers, and market participants

Aligned with the BNM 2025 Discussion Paper, these goals should be supported by:

Clearly defined impact tolerances
Regular scenario testing
Continuous improvement through lessons learned from incidents and exercises

By grounding its operational resilience journey in a deep understanding of the organisation, RHB Bank sets a strong foundation for the next instalment—translating intent into structured implementation.

This chapter has established a clear organisational baseline for RHB Bank’s operational resilience journey.

By examining its operating environment, critical business services, governance structure, and strategic objectives, the chapter highlights the importance of a deep understanding of the organisation for protecting customers and maintaining financial stability during disruptions.

The focus on customer impact, interconnectedness, and proportionality reflects both regulatory expectations and practical realities faced by a large financial institution.

With this organisational understanding in place, RHB Bank is now positioned to move from awareness to action.

The next stage of the journey builds on this foundation by translating insights into structured design and implementation choices, ensuring that operational resilience becomes an embedded, sustainable capability rather than a standalone compliance initiative.

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Operational Resilience Journey at RHB Bank: From Understanding to Implementation
eBook 1: Understanding Your Organisation: RHB Bank
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For organisations looking to accelerate their journey, BCM Institute’s training and certification programs, including the OR-5000 Operational Resilience Expert Implementer course, provide in-depth insights and practical toolkits for effectively embedding this model.

More Information About OR-5000 [OR-5] or OR-300 [OR-3]

To learn more about the course and schedule, click the buttons below for the OR-300 Operational Resilience Implementer course and the OR-5000 Operational Resilience Expert Implementer course.