- Our Ref:
- B1/15C
B9/29C
8 October 2003
The Chief Executive
All Authorized Institutions
Dear Sir / Madam,
Business continuity
planning considerations relating to SARS
The HKMA has been reviewing with a number of authorized
institutions (AIs) the implications of SARS (Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome) for business continuity planning. The purpose
of this letter is to summarise the lessons learnt and to recommend
certain measures you may wish to consider.
Most AIs should have developed business continuity plans (BCPs)
to cope with major physical disasters. We would like, however, to
stress the importance of reviewing your existing preventive
measures, contingency procedures, and recovery equipment and
facilities to ensure that they are effective in handling another
outbreak of SARS or any other similar communicable diseases. In
this connection, we would recommend the following measures for your
consideration:
- Your institution should maintain a high level of environmental
hygiene and encourage staff to maintain a high level of personal
hygiene. The adequacy of the remaining stock of face masks, hand
gloves, disinfectant etc., in case of need, should be reviewed from
time to time;
- You may consider retaining medical practitioners to provide
regular advice on latest developments and to recommend appropriate
measures for adoption. You may also encourage staff to take
influenza vaccination for individual protection. This will reduce
the number of false alarms and the related disruptions;
- You should establish a clear command structure involving the
senior management for crisis management, central SARS-related
policy making and logistics management as early as possible when
there is a possible outbreak. This is important to avoid confusion
in the appropriate response to adopt in particular situations;
- Clear communications of SARS-related matters and policies, both
internal and external (e.g. customers and counter-parties), are
key. You should ensure that the HKMA is apprised of the latest
situation should you be affected, which should also be made readily
available to the media if required;
- You should check with your critical suppliers and major outside
service providers to make sure that they are also well prepared for
another possible outbreak of SARS;
- The experience last time suggests that customers will shift to
electronic channels of delivery should there be concerns of an
outbreak. You should review the capacity of your computer systems
to cater for the potential upsurge in transaction volume; and
- In handling the last outbreak, many institutions found it
necessary to operate in a split operation mode or adopt a mobile
work force strategy (e.g. working from home). You should ensure
that your back-up facilities, mobile computing / communication
devices and network bandwidth are adequate if you plan to adopt
such contingency measures. The related procedures should be
rehearsed and the required facilities and devices should be tested
before they are put into use.
I hope you will find the above useful. If you have any questions
on this letter, please feel free to contact Mr Shu-Pui Li at
28781826 or Mr Raymond Suen at 28781817.
Yours faithfully,
Raymond Li
Executive Director (Banking Development)