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The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) – which is comprised of five banking regulators, including the NCUA and CFPB, and state regulator representatives – Wednesday released an updated Business Continuity Management booklet focused on business-wide approaches to ensure operations are not disrupted or can easily recover after a disaster.

The booklet addresses technology, business operations, testing, and communication strategies to ensure "safety and soundness, consumer financial protection, and compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and rules," according to the FFIEC's release.

The latest edition of The NAFCU Journal also includes a feature on helping credit unions prepare contingency plans for all types of situations, including natural disasters and government shutdowns, to mitigate losses and provide extreme member service during difficult times.

"As the booklet makes clear, business continuity focuses on more than just the planning process to recover operations after an event," said FFEIC. "Business continuity also includes the continued maintenance of systems and controls for the resilience and continuity of operations."

The booklet, which is a part of the FFIEC Information Technology Examination Handbook, replaces the Business Continuity Planning booklet and describes principles to help examiners determine whether institutions properly address risks related to the availability of critical financial products and services.

Additionally, the updated examination procedures included in the book are expected to help examiners assess the adequacy of an institutions continuity plan.

Last year, NAFCU Director of Regulatory Affairs Ann Kossachev and Brian Sprang, chief information officer for NAFCU-member Quest Federal Credit Union, joined other stakeholders and federal agency representatives at a U.S. Treasury Department roundtable to discuss ways to limit the consequences of natural disasters through mitigation.

As a result of that meeting, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) released the National Mitigation Investment Strategy (NMIS) earlier this year, a strategy meant advance mitigation investment to reduce risks posed by natural hazards.

NAFCU also has a webinar, available on-demand, designed to teach credit unions about implementing a business continuity and crisis communication plan, and discuss key resources available to all federally-insured credit unions.