The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) is calling on the securities industry to participate in a planned business continuity test exercise in the fall.
The CSA issued a notice Thursday encouraging “all dealers, marketplaces and clearing agencies” to participate in a market-wide business continuity test being organized by the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) for October 5.
“Participation in this exercise may lead to the discovery of potential system and operational problems that could undermine the integrity of the capital markets,” it says.
For example, the notice indicates that, “Various events over the past few years, such as flu outbreaks, natural disasters, black-outs and marketplace system problems … [highlight] the risk of operational disruptions to the financial system.”
Marketplaces are required to test their business continuity and disaster recovery plans at least annually, as are IIROC dealers. Additionally, clearing agencies are expected to have procedures to ensure business continuity including regularly testing their business continuity plans, it says. And the CSA says it believes that dealers, marketplaces, self-regulatory organizations and clearing agencies should participate regularly in industry-wide testing.