In a written question to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Charles Walker asks what progress the Financial Services Authority has made in enforcing testable business continuity planning among its members.

Mr. Walker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress the Financial Services Authority has made in enforcing testable business continuity planning among its members; and if he will make a statement. [87906]

Ed Balls: The UK financial authorities (HM Treasury, Bank of England and FSA) work together closely to ensure that the financial sector is prepared for and able to respond to disruptive events. The FSA has responsibility for ensuring that the firms it regulates have business continuity plans in place, and provides the lead for the authorities in the areas of benchmarking and testing.

The FSA launched the Resilience Benchmarking Project in 2005 to assess the overall resilience of the financial sector. Findings were published in a Discussion Paper on 14 December and a draft Business Continuity Management Guide was recently issued for consultation.

The FSA also organises an annual market-wide exercise to test the contingency arrangements of the financial authorities with market participants.

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