Operational Resilience and Business Continuity Audit Checklist

A comprehensive checklist for auditing operational resilience and business continuity measures in financial institutions, covering aspects such as crisis management, IT disaster recovery, third-party risk management, and communication strategies to ensure robust operational resilience.

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About This Checklist

In today's volatile financial landscape, operational resilience and robust business continuity planning are critical for financial institutions. This Operational Resilience and Business Continuity Audit Checklist is an essential tool for evaluating and enhancing an organization's ability to withstand, adapt to, and recover from operational disruptions. By thoroughly examining crisis management procedures, IT disaster recovery plans, third-party dependency risks, and communication strategies, this checklist helps identify potential vulnerabilities, ensure regulatory compliance, and strengthen overall operational resilience. Regular implementation of this checklist not only mitigates the risk of service interruptions and financial losses but also contributes to maintaining customer trust and regulatory confidence in an increasingly complex and interconnected financial ecosystem.

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Industry

Financial Services

Standard

BCBS - Banking Supervision Standards

Workspaces

Bank branches

Occupations

Business Continuity Manager
Operational Risk Specialist
IT Disaster Recovery Coordinator
Crisis Management Officer
Compliance Analyst
1
Is there an updated crisis management plan in place?
2
What training has been provided to staff regarding the business continuity plan?
3
What is the defined Recovery Time Objective (RTO) for critical services?
Min: 1
Target: 4 hours
Max: 48
4
Have all critical third-party vendors undergone risk assessments?
5
What scenarios have been tested for incident response?
6
Is there an effective emergency communication system in place?
7
What is the Maximum Acceptable Outage (MAO) for critical functions?
Min: 1
Target: 2 hours
Max: 24
8
What strategies are in place to mitigate supply chain risks?
9
How often are business continuity scenario tests conducted?
10
What is included in the stakeholder communication plan during a crisis?
11
Have crisis simulation exercises been conducted in the last year?
12
Is there a recent impact analysis report available?
13
What is the distance to the nearest alternate site for operations?
Min: 1
Target: 50 miles
Max: 100
14
Is the organization compliant with relevant regulatory requirements for operational resilience?
15
What lessons have been learned from previous incidents or tests?
16
Has the IT disaster recovery plan been reviewed and updated in the last 12 months?
17
What training has been provided to employees regarding operational resilience?
18
What is the target recovery time for critical business functions?
Min: 1
Target: 3 hours
Max: 12
19
Has the supply chain resilience been evaluated for potential risks?
20
What processes are in place for post-incident reviews?
21
Has a Business Impact Analysis (BIA) been completed in the last year?
22
How often is crisis management training conducted for employees?
23
How often are business continuity plans tested?
Min: 1
Target: 6 times per year
Max: 12
24
Is the incident management system fully operational and accessible?
25
What strategies are in place for engaging stakeholders during a crisis?

FAQs

These audits should be conducted annually, with more frequent reviews recommended for critical business functions or following significant organizational changes or identified vulnerabilities.

Key areas include business impact analysis, crisis management procedures, IT disaster recovery plans, third-party risk assessments, communication protocols, scenario testing, and regulatory reporting mechanisms.

These audits are typically conducted by a cross-functional team including business continuity managers, IT specialists, risk management professionals, and internal auditors, often with input from external consultants specializing in operational resilience.

The checklist includes items that assess the comprehensiveness of IT disaster recovery plans, the effectiveness of data backup and recovery procedures, the adequacy of system redundancy measures, and the regular testing of failover mechanisms.

Yes, the checklist can be customized to address specific operational resilience requirements of various financial institutions, such as retail banks, investment firms, or insurance companies, while maintaining core audit elements.

Benefits of Operational Resilience and Business Continuity Audit Checklist

Ensures compliance with operational resilience regulations and industry standards

Identifies gaps in business continuity planning and crisis management procedures

Enhances IT disaster recovery capabilities and system redundancy measures

Improves management of third-party dependency risks and supply chain resilience

Strengthens overall operational risk management and stakeholder communication strategies