Trade association UK Finance, with assistance from IHS Markit’s KY3P platform, has developed The Supplier Assurance Framework, as part of a wider effort to solve the industry problems associated with collective supplier assurance.
The framework, to be launched on 2 March, will allow financial sector firms access to suppliers' operational resilience in a collaborative way, as part of an initiative by the Cross Market Operational Resilience Group (CMORG).
CMORG leads financial sector-wide collective action on operational resilience and is co-chaired by senior executives of the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and UK Finance.
At present, UK financial services firms use a relatively common supply base but slightly different assessments for onsite assurance, risk rating and remediation. The current approach has contributed to supplier frustration with some citing capacity and prioritisation constraints, says IHS Markit.
Within the current framework, firms are not fully leveraging opportunities to collaborate to identify common supply chain risks and improve visibility, it adds.
From introducing the framework, UK Finance and IHS Markit aim to build a networked community of financial firms, drive industry convergence on common approaches to achieve assurance of suppliers' operational resilience, while helping suppliers identify key risks to their clients.
The framework will be made freely available to firms and suppliers on the UK Finance website.
Richard Blore, CEO of KY3P, IHS Markit, says: "When fully implemented, the Supplier Assurance Framework will allow suppliers to store and reuse responses, reduce duplicative processes and optimise the workflow for the on-boarding and due-diligence process.”
He adds: “We are delighted to work with UK Finance on the new standards which will raise the bar on control standards across the industry and will move the industry towards a sustainable solution that delivers a more resilient and robust supply chain."
Ian Burgess, director of cyber and third-party risk at UK Finance, comments: "UK Finance is delighted to launch the Supplier Assurance Framework. We wish to express our thanks to KY3P for the expertise they have brought to it. This is an important issue for our members, and we hope that by making this framework available to the whole sector and its suppliers that it will help enable a more collective approach to supplier assurance."
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