Mission
In the event of a significant incident that affects or has the potential to affect the operations of the financial markets, SIFMA coordinates the financial industry’s business continuity planning efforts. These efforts are managed through the Emergency Crisis Management Command Center, which identifies the status of industry participants, disseminates vital information and timely updates on the recovery of the markets and facilitates actions to assist market participants in resuming their business. Coordination is arranged amongst financial firms, exchanges, industry utilities, regulators, government agencies and public sector emergency managers.
What constitutes a significant emergency or incident?
A significant emergency or incident can be regional or national, and may include events such as:
- Physical or cyber terrorism
- Major industry IT or operations failures
- Snow storms
- Floods
- Hurricanes
- Pandemics
How does the Emergency Crisis Management Command Center work?
If a significant emergency or incident is detected, SIFMA assesses the situation at hand with a team of representatives from across the industry. If warranted, the Emergency Command Center is activated. Once activated, SIFMA coordinates an orchestrated sequence of events:
- Convene members of the SIFMA BCP Committee along with other interested parties to discuss the situation and next steps. Emergency alerts are disseminated with relevant information through websites and conference calls.
- Make any fixed-income or equity market closure recommendations through the SIFMA Market Response Committees.
- Continue coordination with exchanges, industry utilities, regulators and public sector emergency managers. The public sector represents local, regional and national government agencies such as U.S. Treasury, Homeland Security and through bodies such as the New York City Office of Emergency Management (OEM) and Emergency Operations Center (EOC), at which SIFMA holds and staffs an industry seat.
Throughout the incident, information is disseminated and coordinated amongst relevant parties until the situation is resolved.
How can I learn more?
For information about SIFMA’s Emergency Crisis Management Command Center and Industry Test, please click here.
For information about SIFMA’s operations and technology committees, including the BCP Committee, please click here.
