Best practices applied during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic

31 March 2021

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, financial market infrastructure operators and overseers have gained extensive experience in crisis management.

Based on this experience, a set of best practices for pandemic crisis planning has been compiled in a non-prescriptive reference guide by the Eurosystem.

The guide sets out the different approaches used, ranging from more standardised step-by-step pandemic-specific business continuity plans to more flexible arrangements entailing ad hoc decision-making.

The guide aims to:

1. provide support for the overseers in monitoring overseen entities, to ensure that the respective system operators are managing the crisis effectively, and
2. identify what market practices financial market infrastructures can apply in their business continuity plans.

Of course, during pandemic times there is no one-size-fits-all approach, and the strategy pursued by each entity will depend on their individual needs and operating environment.