On 6 May 2021, the Board of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) published a report on a thematic review that was conducted on the extent to which participating IOSCO member jurisdictions have implemented regulatory measures consistent with the two recommendations and the two standards set out in the 2015 IOSCO reports on business continuity plans (BCPs) for trading venues and market intermediaries.
The two recommendations under review state that regulators should require trading venues to:
- Have mechanisms to help ensure the resiliency, reliability and integrity (including security) of critical systems.
- Establish, maintain and implement as appropriate a BCP.
The two standards state that regulators should require intermediaries to:
- Create and maintain a written BCP that identifies procedures for an emergency or significant business disruption.
- Update their BCP in the event of any material change to operations, structure, business or location and conduct an annual review of their BCP to determine whether any modifications are necessary due to these changes.
Authorities from 33 jurisdictions (16 developed jurisdictions and 17 emerging market jurisdictions) participated in the thematic review, which found that thirteen participating jurisdictions are fully consistent with the two recommendations and the two standards under review. The thematic review also identified some gaps or shortcomings of different degrees of materiality in the other 20 participating jurisdictions for one or more of the recommendations or standards.