A 36-page IOSCO consultation report on “Operational resilience of trading venues and market intermediaries during the COVID-19 pandemic” could make for your weekend reading. Though it is posted as a question to market actors, it also gives a concise summary of the insights already gained.

The publication, downloadable here, has recently been published by the board of the International Organization of Securities Commissions, IOSCO, which asks to get feedback by 14 March.

“The pandemic stretched crisis management, business continuity, disaster recovery and supplier management arrangements and, in some cases, and to varying degrees, these challenges remain,” the organization observes – adding that trading venues and market intermediaries have performed well, thanks to operational resilience work done over the last decade.

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It isn’t just about the tech

Among other things, the consultation report summarizes existing international operational-resilience initiatives, outlines how regulated stakeholders were impacted, and looks at key operational risks and challenges such as the transition to remote work.

A list of key lessons already learned features the following payoffs:
• Operational resilience means more than just technological solutions
• Consider dependencies and interconnectivity
• Review, update and test business continuity plans (BCP)
• Effective governance frameworks
• Compliance and supervisory processes
• Information security risk