meta_id 3287522

The Central Bank of the Russian Federation published methodological recommendations on January 13, 2025, providing guidance to credit institutions and banking groups on managing business continuity risk within their operational risk management systems. The guidance complements the Central Bank's Regulation No. 716-P of April 8, 2020, which establishes requirements for operational risk management systems in credit institutions and banking groups. The recommendations address the identification, assessment, and mitigation of business continuity risks—defined as a category of operational risk. Key areas covered include establishing control indicators and threshold values for business continuity risk levels; identifying and evaluating scenarios that could disrupt critical processes; assessing the impact of such scenarios on banking operations; and selecting appropriate response measures. Credit institutions must develop operational resilience policies defining governance structures, roles and responsibilities, and resource allocation requirements. The guidance specifies that institutions should designate a senior official responsible for operational resilience who operates independently from transaction execution, accounting, and information security functions. The recommendations require credit institutions to develop and test business continuity and recovery plans for critical processes and information systems, with testing conducted at least annually. Plans must include target service levels, recovery time objectives, resource requirements, and procedures for stakeholder communication during disruptions. Systemically important credit institutions and those significant in payment services markets face additional requirements to assess impacts on financial system stability. The guidance identifies recommended scenarios for assessment, including data loss, power outages, infrastructure failures, key personnel unavailability, and third-party service disruptions. Credit institutions should establish situational management procedures, awareness programs for staff, and regular reporting mechanisms to executive bodies on business continuity risk levels. REFERENCES: Central Bank of the Russian Federation. Методические рекомендации Банка России по управлению риском нарушения непрерывности деятельности в кредитной организации и банковской группе [Methodological Recommendations on Business Continuity Risk Management]. January 13, 2025. Available at: www.cbr.ru