On 8 December 2021, the International Association of Deposit Insurers Asia Pacific Regional Committee (IADI APRC) Technical Assistance Virtual Workshop themed “Resolution Issues in New Normal Times” discussed several jurisdictional experiences on crisis preparedness.
Rafiz Azuan Abdullah, Chief Executive Officer of Perbadanan Insurans Deposit Malaysia (PIDM), shared PIDM’s plan to strengthen crisis readiness by adopting a “just-in-case” mindset, engaging closely with key stakeholders and achieving collaborative readiness, through amongst others, simulation exercises.
The workshop was hosted virtually by the Central Deposit Insurance Corporation, Chinese Taipei, with attendance by more than 120 participants.
Some key lessons gleaned from the workshop are:
- Cooperation and coordination among different financial sector authorities are crucial to ensure system-wide preparedness for effective crisis management responses. Equally important is to continually test and strengthen these strategies and institutional arrangements through interagency simulations.
- Finding the right balance to design, execute and sustain the momentum of crisis preparedness initiatives among multiple stakeholders can be challenging. To achieve this, examples from the area of simulations include the aims to develop scenarios that are challenging, realistic, urgent and flexible, as well to select the right mix of multi-year programs including full simulations, table-top exercises, fire drills, walkthroughs and workshops.
- Agility is an essential facet in crisis management. During the pandemic, many deposit insurers moved quickly to pivot on digital approaches in conducting bank resolution and reimbursement operations, as well as amplifying the communications reach to depositors and the public through greater use of digital channels.