Covid-19 and operational resilience: addressing financial institutions’ operational challenges in a pandemic

 Financial institutions have to deal with two challenges in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic. The first challenge is financial – how to address and mitigate the sharp drop in the value of financial assets or loss of liquidity. The second challenge is operational – how to address the risk of failure of resources (people, processes, technology, facilities and information) to deliver business services.

Financial sector authorities are concerned with both sets of challenges, given that the response of financial institutions has implications for the provision of the financial services that support the economy. Since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, some authorities have issued guidance to help financial institutions address these challenges. This paper looks at some of the initiatives that are specifically aimed at helping address operational challenges and ensuring business continuity.