Understanding and Analysing the Consequences of Business Disruption

Vincent West and Antonio Ribeiro

Organisations in the financial sector are subject to constant change. Change may be gradual, when business conditions evolve in roughly continuous and predictable ways, or sudden, when conditions change in a disorganised and turbulent manner, potentially causing business interruption.

Change constantly challenges the capability of organisations to evolve and adapt to new circumstances. In some cases, it might threaten the continuity of activities essential to the achievement of business objectives and the fulfillment of stakeholder expectations. This capability is often termed “business resilience”. A resilient organisation is therefore able to understand risks that drive the changes that can impact their business and adopt effective responses to change, foreseen or otherwise.

Business continuity management (BCM) plays a central role in ensuring business resilience in the financial sector. It enables organisations to understand, prepare and respond to events that can interrupt value-generating processes and impact on their business performance. It is essential to protect value by safeguarding revenues and sustain both a stable financial market and customer confidence. The