HANNAH MCASLAN | Senior Associate, Norton Rose Fulbright LLP
ALICE ROUTH | Associate, Norton Rose Fulbright LLP
HANNAH MEAKIN | Partner, Norton Rose Fulbright LLP
JAMES RUSSELL | Partner, Norton Rose Fulbright LLP

Operational resilience has always been a key area of focus for the financial market infrastructure, financial institutions, and their regulators. Traditionally, there was an emphasis on a fairly narrow set of risks and on preventing operational disruptions instead of responding and adapting to them. However, more recently, regulatory focus has shifted as financial institutions have become increasingly vulnerable. 

Recent papers published by the U.K. regulators are wider in scope, applying to a broader range of financial market participants. Firms are also increasingly expected to place an active emphasis on system resilience in order to enhance the robustness of systems and business processes to futureproof their businesses and reduce the likelihood that an operational risk will occur, but being ready to mitigate the impact when it does, rather than merely reacting to events as and when they happen.