OSFI launches consultation on technology risks in the financial sector

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Sep 15, 2020

On September 15, 2020, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) launched a three-month consultation with the publication of a discussion paper, "Developing financial sector resilience in a digital world". The paper focuses on risks arising from rapid technological advancement and digitalization, as these trends impact the stability of the Canadian financial sector.

This consultation supports OSFI's strategic objective to ensure that federally-regulated financial institutions and pension plans are better prepared to identify and develop resilience to non-financial risks before they negatively affect their financial condition. While technology is a key enabler for financial institutions and financial consumers, its widespread use and rapid adoption can pose risks in many different areas of the business if not properly understood and managed.

Understanding the financial sector's use of technology and how technology risks are managed is central to this consultation. OSFI's discussion paper focuses on the risk areas of cyber security, advanced analytics (artificial intelligence and machine learning), and the use of third party services such as cloud computing.

OSFI is seeking feedback from a wide range of stakeholders including financial sector participants, technology experts, and academics. Their input will help guide OSFI's regulatory and supervisory approaches to technology risks that meet our mandate of protecting depositors, policyholders and private pension plan beneficiaries while allowing institutions to compete and take risks.

Review the press release on the OSFI's website.

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