[OR] [PO] Sample Operational Resilience Policy

Operational Resilience Policy (Sample)

This sample Operational Resilience Policy is tailored for a financial institution in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region.

This policy is aligned with international best practices, such as those from the Basel Committee, Financial Stability Board, and key regulators in the APAC region, such as the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA).

[Financial Institution Name]

Operational Resilience Policy

Effective Date: [Insert Date]
Policy Owner: Chief Risk Officer (CRO)
Approved By: Board of Directors
Next Review Date: [Insert Date]

1. Purpose

This operational Resilience Policy defines the principles, responsibilities, and framework by which [Financial Institution Name] ensures its ability to prevent, respond to, recover from, and learn from operational disruptions.

This policy supports our commitment to delivering critical business services under all circumstances, including cyber incidents, technology failures, third-party disruptions, pandemics, and natural disasters.

2. Scope

This policy applies to all business units, functions, legal entities, and third-party service providers supporting critical business services across the Asia-Pacific region where [Financial Institution Name] operates.

3. Policy Statement

[Financial Institution Name] is committed to ensuring operational resilience by:

• Identifying and mapping critical business services and their supporting resources.

• Setting impact tolerances for disruption to critical services.

• Implementing strategies to remain within tolerances during disruptions.

• Conducting regular scenario testing, self-assessments, and lessons learned exercises.

• Engaging senior management and the Board in oversight and governance of operational resilience.

4. Governance

Operational resilience is overseen by the Board Risk Committee, which the Operational Resilience Steering Committee supports. The Chief Risk Officer (CRO) is accountable for ensuring policy implementation.

Responsibilities include:

5. Key Principles

1. Critical Business Services Identification
   All critical business services that, if disrupted, would pose a risk to financial stability, firm viability, or customer harm must be identified and mapped.

2. Impact Tolerance Setting
   Quantifiable thresholds (e.g., maximum tolerable downtime or customer impact) must be defined for each critical service.

3. Mapping of Dependencies
   All internal and external dependencies (people, technology, facilities, data, third parties) supporting critical services must be mapped.

4. Resilience Strategies
   Controls, redundancies, and continuity arrangements must be in place to ensure services remain within impact tolerances.

5. Scenario Testing
   Regular stress testing based on severe but plausible scenarios must be conducted to validate resilience.

6. Continuous Improvement
   Lessons from disruptions, near misses, and tests must inform updates to the resilience framework.

6. Integration with Risk Management

This policy is integrated with the institution’s overall Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) framework, including Business Continuity Management (BCM), Information and Cybersecurity, Outsourcing Risk Management, and Incident Management.

7. Compliance and Regulatory Alignment

This policy complies with relevant operational resilience regulations in the APAC region, including but not limited to:

• Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) – Guidelines on Business Continuity Management and Technology Risk Management

• Reserve Bank of India (RBI) – Guidance Note on Operational Risk Management and Operational Resilience

• Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) – CPS 230 (Operational Risk Management)

• Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) – OR-2 Supervisory Policy Manual

8. Monitoring and Reporting

• Quarterly reports on resilience posture and test results will be submitted to the Board Risk Committee.

• Significant disruptions and breaches of impact tolerance must be reported immediately to regulators as required.

9. Review and Update

This policy will be reviewed annually or more frequently if the regulatory landscape, business strategy, or risk profile changes.

10. Exceptions

Any exceptions to this policy must be approved by the Chief Risk Officer and reported to the Board Risk Committee.

Summing Up ...

The Operational Resilience Framework is the backbone of an organisation’s ability to prepare for, adapt to, and recover from disruptions while maintaining critical services.

It is not a one-time initiative but a continuous journey that requires cross-functional alignment, strong governance, and regular testing.

In today’s uncertain world, resilience is not just a defensive strategy—it’s a source of competitive advantage.

Operational Resilience Framework Versus Policy

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