Operational Resilience: From Policy to Practice in Tier 1 Banks
Operational resilience is moving from policy to practice in tier 1 banks. How institutions are stress-testing, governing, and embedding resilience into day-to-day operations.
Operational resilience has moved from a regulatory concept to a practical imperative. Global Banking Monitor's 69-page report explores how Tier 1 banks are moving beyond policy documents and frameworks to actually operationalise resilience - through scenario testing, third-party risk management, and recovery planning that works under real stress.
Key findings
- Most banks have resilience frameworks on paper but struggle with execution. The gap between documented policies and practical capabilities - particularly around scenario testing and recovery - remains significant even among large institutions.
- Third-party dependencies are the most underestimated resilience risk. As banks rely on increasingly complex ecosystems of technology vendors, cloud providers, and fintech partners, their resilience is only as strong as their weakest external dependency.
- Scenario testing is improving but still too narrow. Banks tend to test for known failure modes rather than compound, cascading scenarios - which are precisely the situations that cause the most severe operational disruptions.
- Technology dependency mapping is essential but rarely complete. Understanding which business services depend on which technology components - and where single points of failure exist - is foundational to resilience but surprisingly difficult to achieve.
- Regulators are moving from principles to enforcement. UK and EU supervisors in particular are shifting from setting expectations to actively testing compliance, with material consequences for institutions that cannot demonstrate practical resilience capabilities.
What the report covers
- Executive Summary - Resilience as a strategic and regulatory priority
- Defining Resilience - Scope and components
- Regulatory Expectations - UK and EU frameworks
- Scenario Testing - Stress testing and failure simulations
- Third-Party Risk - Vendor dependencies and concentration risk
- Technology Dependencies - Critical systems mapping
- Case Studies - Real-world incidents and institutional responses
- Metrics and Monitoring - Key resilience indicators
- Implementation Challenges - Execution barriers
- Roadmap - Building practical resilience capabilities
Who should read this
This report is designed for COOs, CROs, Heads of Operational Resilience, and technology leaders responsible for business continuity and disaster recovery. It is equally relevant for board risk committees and regulators seeking to understand best practice in operational resilience implementation.
For enquiries about accessing this report, contact [email protected]