UK Financial Sector Tests Cloud Disruption Resilience in SIMEX26
Biennial simulation exercise, SIMEX26, involving major banks and market operators, focused on global cloud services disruption.
By The SME Chronicle Newsroom
••2 min read
AI
Simulation exercise in a London conference room focusing on cloud service disruption.
The Cross-Market Operational Resilience Group (CMORG) concluded its biennial simulation exercise, SIMEX26, on 8 October 2026, focusing on a global cloud services disruption scenario.
The exercise, chaired by the Bank of England and UK Finance, involved 38 of the largest and most systemically important banks and market infrastructure operators. Participants collaborated with financial authorities, including HM Treasury and the Financial Conduct Authority, to simulate responses to a widespread disruption of cloud-based services.
Hosted by the London Stock Exchange Group, the simulation was opened by the Economic Secretary to the Treasury. A live meeting of the Cross Market Business Continuity Group, chaired by the Bank, provided strategic direction for the sector's collective response to systemic incidents. The Bank now expects participating firms to implement findings from the exercise to enhance their resilience and response capabilities for severe operational and cyber scenarios.
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"This was an important demonstration of the UK financial sector's commitment to operational resilience. The level of collaboration reflects the priority firms place on maintaining critical services in the face of disruption. That preparedness is essential to safeguarding financial stability."
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"Maintaining resilience across the financial sector is critical to supporting confidence, stability, and growth in the UK economy. SIMEX 2026 enabled us to collectively strengthen preparedness and ensure the sector is better equipped to respond to significant disruptive events while continuing to deliver essential services to customers."
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"The operational resilience of our world-leading financial services sector is core to maintaining financial stability. I’m grateful to all participants in SIMEX26 as we look to collectively enhance our defences against disruption, and safeguard stability and confidence."
The SIMEX programme aims to bolster the financial sector's operational resilience by rehearsing responses to challenging scenarios. Previous exercises, including those in 2022 and 2024, have addressed cyber-attacks against major banks and critical infrastructure disruptions outside the financial sector.
SIMEX 26 builds upon the Bank of England's ongoing work with financial authorities and industry through CMORG to improve operational resilience. Recent efforts have focused on strengthening third-party engagement and resilience, enabling secure innovation in areas like AI, and enhancing cyber preparedness for severe disruption scenarios.
Based on information from the official source: Bank of England (09/10/2026)
