Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:

• Apply the global standards (e.g., CPMI-IOSCO PFMI) for **operational resilience** to payment systems.
• Design a comprehensive Business Continuity Plan (BCP) and Disaster Recovery (DR) strategy tailored to FMI requirements.
• Establish clear **Recovery Time Objectives (RTOs)** and **Recovery Point Objectives (RPOs)** for critical payment functions.
• Develop and execute multi-party, realistic **crisis simulation** exercises (e.g., cyber-attack, major outage).
• Formulate a structured **Crisis Communications Plan** for internal, external, and regulatory stakeholders.
• Analyze the operational and financial impact of various threat scenarios (cyber, technical failure, natural disaster).
• Understand the legal and regulatory implications of payment system downtime and failure to settle.
• Evaluate strategies for maintaining system resilience, including redundant architecture and geographically separate sites.

• Heads of Operations, Business Continuity, and Disaster Recovery at Central Banks.
• Senior Management and Risk Officers of Financial Market Infrastructure (FMI) Operators.
• IT and Information Security Managers responsible for critical payment systems.
• Internal Audit and Regulatory Compliance Staff.
• Financial Regulators and Supervisors overseeing operational resilience.
• System Participants (Commercial Banks) BCP Coordinators.

• Crisis Simulation Exercises and "War Games" (e.g., Cyber Attack on RTGS)
• Group Activities on Drafting and Reviewing BCP/DR Documentation
• Case Studies on Major Payment System Outages (Historical and Hypothetical)
• Workshops on Defining RTO/RPO for Critical Functions
• Expert Presentations on FMI Operational Resilience Frameworks
• Individual Assignments on Developing a Crisis Communication Strategy

Unit 1: Operational Resilience Standards and Frameworks

• Defining **Operational Resilience** versus traditional BCP and DR.
• Applying the CPMI-IOSCO PFMI principles (Principle 17: Operational Risk Management).
• Identification and mapping of **Critical Business Functions (CBFs)** in payment systems.
• Setting resilience targets: RTOs, RPOs, and Maximum Tolerable Downtime (MTD).
• Regulatory expectations for operational stress testing and reporting.

Unit 2: Business Continuity Planning (BCP) Design

• Designing redundant and resilient system architectures (active-active, geographically dispersed sites).
• Strategies for maintaining data integrity and synchronization across multiple locations.
• Planning for technical failures, power outages, and telecommunications disruptions.
• Human factors in BCP: staff training, rotation, and succession planning.
• The role of alternative processing arrangements and manual procedures.

Unit 3: Crisis Management and Incident Response

• Establishing a formal **Incident Management Team (IMT)** structure and governance.
• Developing detailed **Incident Response Plans** for various threat scenarios (e.g., cyber, technical).
• Protocols for declaring a major incident and escalating to senior management/government.
• Strategies for system recovery, data restoration, and post-incident analysis.
• Legal and liability considerations during a payment system outage.

Unit 4: Crisis Communication and Stakeholder Coordination

• Developing a clear **Crisis Communications Plan** for the media, public, and markets.
• Protocols for communicating with system participants (commercial banks) during an outage.
• Coordinating recovery efforts with supervisory agencies and other FMIs.
• Managing reputational risk and maintaining public confidence during a crisis.
• Documenting and reporting post-incident analysis for regulatory submission.

Unit 5: Testing, Training, and Continuous Improvement

• Designing and executing different types of tests: component, integrated, and full-scale **simulation exercises**.
• The importance of realistic scenario generation (e.g., "loss of main site" or "loss of key vendor").
• Training staff for high-stress decision-making under time constraints.
• Analyzing post-test results and implementing a continuous improvement cycle.
• Benchmarking resilience against global best practices and peer institutions.