Fine-tuning the survival instinct

September 11 awakened financial institutions to the inadequacies of their business continuity systems. Across the industry, much thinking has been done about how to implement such systems. But in the course of the past year, some firms have nodded off again.

When the World Trade Centre was hit by terrorists last year, 60% of telephone land lines in lower Manhattan were put out of action. Large institutions’ communication systems were hit hard and the New York financial markets were forced to close for four days.

A year on, how much better prepared to cope with systemic disaster is the financial services industry? In the weeks and months following September 11, continuity planning and operational resilience (nobody, it seems, cares to use the phrase disaster recovery) was a priority for every business.

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