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Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)’s BCM (Business Continuity Management) guidelines are something every financial institution should take seriously. After all, the guidelines come from a regulator, and all firms need to adhere to them to them to remain compliant. The most interesting thing about the guidelines is the huge benefits firms enjoy if they are compliant. After all, they caution financial institutions in case of any disruption since they ensure crucial business functions aren’t interrupted under such circumstances.
The guidelines ensure businesses manage their operational risks effectively. It explains why MAS wants the FIs to have a comprehensive framework to facilitate the preparedness of such uncertainties. The frameworks should be holistic and thus involve facilities, processes, people, and technology. The systems and processes should be effective at all times; hence important to stay updated. That’s why the regulations also include regular reviews and tests to help FIs handle all the necessary adaptations and changes excellently on time. Let’s learn more about BCP and BCM Audit MAS Singapore.
BCM’s meaning is as simple as advanced preparations and plans a firm undertakes to ensure that its business functions aren’t disrupted. Besides prevention, BCM also revolves around solutions that would help the business restore its services quickly if a disaster strikes. It also clearly defines every potential risk, including the common ones such as flood, fire, and cyber-attacks.
It shouldn’t be a last-minute thing so as to mitigate the consequential of any potential or existing threat effectively. On the contrary, a financial institution should plan and establish the procedures and arrangements to use as a response. Handling disruptions on time always makes a huge difference.
Nevertheless, one can’t wait to figure out if a plan is effective once danger strikes. What if it isn’t as good as you would assume? It explains why organizations also need to test the procedures to ensure they will save the day if such a time comes. After every disruption, it is only fair to assess how the procedures and plans handled the issue. It allows FIs to improve accordingly so as to handle situations even better next time. The idea is to prevent business services disruption, and the worst-case scenario should be restoring them immediately.
First, BCP and BCM go hand in hand, which is most likely why some people use the terms interchangeably. Despite the indisputable association, the two aren’t the same.
BCP refers to the plan an FI develops to handle unforeseen situations that disrupt business operations. The plan points out the necessary actions the firm should perform in case of disruptions. The procedures are about recovering from the issue so as to continue operating as usual.
On the other hand, BCM is the process that manages the implementation of the strategies in the BCP. It also involves ensuring that one implements the strategies in a way that addresses the problem at hand. It ensures that the impact these unexpected crises and disruptions have on business operations is minimal, if not nonexistent.
The bottom line is that BCP is a crucial part of BCM. It lays the foundation of the management.
There was a notable issuance by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in June 2022. Its focus was on new guidelines regarding Business Continuity Management (BCM). Its huge emphasis on the importance of Financial Institutions (FIs) maintaining their business resilience and continuity in the event of any disruptive occurrence was indisputable. Such unfortunate events include physical threats, cyber-attacks, pandemic outbreaks, and IT outages, to mention a few.
There was a notable issuance by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in June 2022. Its focus was on new guidelines regarding Business Continuity Management (BCM). Its huge emphasis on the importance of Financial Institutions (FIs) maintaining their business resilience and continuity in the event of any disruptive occurrence was indisputable. Such unfortunate events include physical threats, cyber-attacks, pandemic outbreaks, and IT outages, to mention a few.
From the latest release, there are certain changes to MAS BCM guidelines. Let’s look at the summary of the new BCM Singapore guidelines.
According to the BCM guidelines, there is a need for FIs to focus more on their customers. Only then can they become customer service centric perfectly. To achieve this, these institutions must also ensure that their BCM program revolves around their clientele. It is no secret that it would most likely demand reframing the existing programs, and that’s what the guidelines require the FIs to do.
SRTO refers to the time a business service takes to resume its operational state after a disruption. If anything were to disrupt a service, it would be in the company’s best interest to restore it with immediate effects. Business continuity management means implementing effective recovery strategies to help FIs rise to the occasion. Consequently, they need to do everything possible to come up with such strategies to meet their services SRTO.
It is no secret that some of the business operations are beyond the control of the FIs to a great extent. After all, they often rely on various third parties for certain business services. Therefore, every financial institution needs to identify these service providers. Then, there is a need for assurance from these third parties to play their respective roles to ensure the organizations meet their SRTOs.
Besides, the institutions also need a backup arrangement as a preventive measure. It is uncertain what may happen next, and such unforeseen circumstances require such plans. For instance, there could be a contract termination between the business and a third party. Equally important, the latter may fail to deliver, thus disrupting services. It is up to the FIs to avoid such situations by being ready for such eventualities.
According to the MAS BCM guidelines, an audit is necessary. Therefore, FIs need to conduct at least one BCM audit on all vital business services every three years. There is also the quality of the audit the financial institutions ought to conduct. For instance, only qualified auditors should conduct the Business Continuity Management audit. These auditors also need to be familiar with the BCM world, including the relevant knowledge.
Every FI needs a crisis management (CM) structure that elaborates on various responsibilities, roles, and triggers. It should be effective enough to guarantee a timely activation of the structure before the disruption of a business service occurs. That’s the only way to guarantee business continuity amidst crises. Otherwise, if the institution notices issues too late, the damage may be huge, require extensive counterattacks, or even cause permanent damage.
We will assess your business operations and risk profile. We will then develop a business continuity plan that meets all your financial institution’s needs. Equally important, it will meet the requirements of the MAS regulatory body.
Our staff will review it to identify any gaps. We don’t stop there since we will also fix it accordingly. Besides, we ensure it is effective and as per the MAS expectations.
We also come up with effective polices that comply with MAS while also benefiting the business. We customize the framework to suit your company perfectly.
We can assist you in testing their effectiveness. From assessing them to analyzing any gaps, we ensure that your policies and plans are meaningful to your institution. Equally important, we ensure they meet MAS requirements, and that’s why we will perform the following; • Plan crisis management • Analyze how they impact your business • Assess risks
If a business operational disruption occurs now, will your FI stand a chance of continuing its operation? That’s the answer you get from our BCM audit. It is no secret that MAS only demands an audit every three years. However, the best BCM audit should happen as often as needed. The complexity, size, and nature of your business and its operations should determine the frequency. We can assist you in determining the frequency and conducting the BCM audits excellently.
The process of business continuity management involves three major areas, including the following; • Establishing • Implementing • Improving continually
• Business Continuity Plan (BCP): It involves the necessary actions and strategies an FI needs to resume its operation after a disruption. It is detailed and hence likened to a comprehensive disaster recovery plan. • Business Impact Analysis: What disruptions threaten your firm and risk its operation? How would they impact your business if they were to occur? BCP reviews them and ensures the impact is as minimal as possible. • Crisis Management: A crisis may arise following changes in the security, environmental, economic, political, or social sectors. BCM should enable the FI to respond accordingly and restore business operations sooner rather than later. • Disaster Recovery: Once a disaster strikes, it is important to handle its consequences effectively. That’s where disaster recovery comes in. Besides assessing the recovery time and the effectiveness of the plan, business continuity management also identifies weaknesses to identify any room for improvement. • Emergency Response: Since disasters are usually unforeseen, emergency response ensures a business contains the repercussions quickly, even under such circumstances. It is a crucial element of BCP since if it doesn’t kick in fast, it might be too late soon. • Resilience and Reputation Management: The BCM should be effective enough to safeguard your business reputation and give it a competitive advantage. Otherwise, who will trust a company that can’t guarantee continuous service operations? • Risk Management: The business continuity management must assess all potential risks. It should also create a priority order in case two or more occur concurrently.
The process of BCM includes the following steps; • Establishing the team responsible for the BCM processes that are knowledgeable, supportive, and reliable • Risk assessment for the identification and evaluation of potential risks and disruption • Carrying out a business impact analysis to figure out possible consequences • Developing strategies, creating the BCP, and implementing them across your company • Regularly test the BCP to affirm its effectiveness • Improve BCM accordingly and continuously
MAS gave FIs 12 months from the guidelines issuance date to comply. Since the release was in June 2022, it means the compliance window is long overdue. As for the BCM audit, the period was up to 24 hours. Therefore, organizations have up to 6th June 2024 to comply with that.