Willemstad/Philipsburg – Cyber risk has come to the top of financial institutions’ risk concerns, reports the Centrale Bank van Curaçao and Sint Maarten (CBCS) in its 2024 Financial Stability Report (FSR). The monetary union’s financial institutions are stepping up efforts and expenditures to boost their cyber resilience.
Financial institutions in the Caribbean region have in recent years seen more cyberattacks and digital disruptions. In some cases, these have caused severe financial damage along with a decline in public confidence in the financial system. Local financial institutions have reported that they are increasingly concerned about the threats of cyberattacks. Most institutions counteract this growing threat by investing heavily in IT security.
The CBCS has included cyber resilience as a focal point in its strategic agenda, working on a roadmap for cyber security for financial institutions in the monetary union. This roadmap aims to strengthen business continuity management systems so that institutions can recover more swiftly from potential attacks. The Provisions and Guidelines for Business Continuity Management have been updated in accordance with the ISO22301:2019 standard. The next steps will include issuing the Provisions and Guidelines for Cyber Security and providing training to supervised institutions. After ensuring completion of the first phases of the roadmap, the CBCS will introduce stress testing to help identify cyber-related vulnerabilities within financial institutions.
With the FSR, the CBCS aims to inform the public on the state of the financial system in the monetary union of Curaçao and Sint Maarten. Financial institutions face risks from escalating geopolitical conflict and global financial conditions. Banks, pension funds, and insurance companies continue to monitor risks such as asset quality, volatile markets, and rising reinsurance costs due to climate risk. Overall, the financial sector has shown continued resilience and increasing adaptability.
For more insights into the state of the financial sector of Curaçao and Sint Maarten, the CBCS invites you to check out the latest FSR available on its website at
https://www.centralbank.cw/publications/financial-stability-reports/2024.
