Most banks expect disruptions to last three to nine months. Large institutions, particularly, are taking the pandemic threat seriously. The RMA survey allows banks to benchmark their planning assumptions and preparations.
Philadelphia, Pa. (May 8, 2006)—An operational risk benchmarking survey conducted by The Risk Management Association in April 2006 indicates that many financial institutions are preparing for a possible flu pandemic. Key findings are:
- Large North American institutions with asset sizes greater than $10 billion are taking the threat seriously. Least concerned are banks with assets of less than $500 million.
- Most banks expect disruptions to last three to nine months.
- Two-thirds expect 30% or more of their key workers to be absent during peak periods of disruption.
- More than 60% have identified someone to lead the planning, but less than a third have rolled out plans and begun regular testing.
- Only about a third of banks are well along in establishing policies for such things as employee compensation, evacuations, and reducing workplace transmission of risk.
Participants in RMA’s How Serious Is the Threat of a Pandemic and What Are Bankers Doing about It included 190 financial institutions. Of those, 168 are from North America, 14 from Europe, and eight from Asia, Australia, and Africa. The results are broken out by geographic area and asset size, with respondents’ asset sizes ranging from under $500 million to over $500 billion.
The survey was developed with information from a small sample of banks most advanced in pandemic planning and from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
RMA Makes Survey Results Available
By reviewing the results of the survey, institutions will be able to benchmark their planning assumptions against those of industry peers. They will be able to compare their state of readiness for:
- The extent, severity, and duration of human and economic distress
- The impact on the institution’s workforce and way of working
- The impact on customers’ demand for services
It will also provide a benchmark to evaluate:
- Internal and external communications plans
- Policies and procedures for managing during a disruption
- Coordination with the community at large.
The results of How Serious Is the Threat of a Pandemic and What Are Bankers Doing about It are available to RMA members for $75 and to nonmembers for $125. Contact RMA Customer Care at 1-800-677-7621 or online at www.rmahq.org. The product ID number is 631503.
RMA Offers Audio Conference Series: Preparing for the Pandemic
RMA also is offering a series of three audio conference on pandemic preparations to be held July 13, 20, and 27. Panelists discussing how to meet the challenge will include a bank regulator, a medical authority, bankers who have had experience with past pandemics, and RMA’s Director of Operational Risk Charles Taylor. The cost for RMA members is $275 per telephone line for all three audio conferences or $120 for each selected audio conference. For non-members, the cost is $395 per telephone line for the series or $180 for individual audio conferences. More information is available online at rmahq.org or by calling RMA Customer Care at 1-800-677-7621.
About RMA
Founded in 1914, The Risk Management Association is a not-for-profit, member-driven professional association whose sole purpose is to advance the use of sound risk principles in the financial services industry. RMA promotes an enterprise approach to risk management that focuses on credit risk, market risk, and operational risk.
Headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, RMA has 3,000 institutional members that include banks of all sizes as well as nonbank financial institutions. They are represented in the Association by 17,000 risk management professionals who are chapter members in financial centers throughout North America, Europe, and Asia/Pacific. Visit RMA on the Web at www.rmahq.org.