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The Cross-Market Operational Resilience Group completed SIMEX26 on 8 October 2026, rehearsing a coordinated response to a simulated global cloud services disruption. The exercise involved 38 major banks and market infrastructure operators alongside UK financial authorities; the Bank of England says firms are expected to act on lessons from the exercise.
The Cross-Market Operational Resilience Group (CMORG) completed a sector-wide exercise on 8 October 2026, testing how the UK financial sector and its authorities would respond to a simulated global cloud services disruption. The exercise brought together 38 major banks and market infrastructure operators with financial authorities, as reliance on cloud-based services makes coordinated responses to severe outages a matter of financial stability.
The biennial exercise, called SIMEX26, was chaired by the Bank of England and UK Finance, and included HM Treasury, the Financial Conduct Authority and participants from across the financial sector. It was opened by Economic Secretary to the Treasury Lucy Rigby and hosted by the London Stock Exchange Group. The scenario focused on disruption to global cloud services; the Bank said it was not based on specific threat information and had been developed with industry experts.
Participants worked alongside financial authorities in a crisis-management exercise. The programme also included a live meeting of the Bank-chaired Cross Market Business Continuity Group, which provides strategic direction for the sector’s collective response to systemic incidents. The exercise was designed to test the sector’s Sector Response Framework, the mechanism CMORG oversees for coordinating responses to severe disruption.
The Bank of England said it expects firms to take action based on the exercise to strengthen their resilience and response capabilities. The release did not set out specific findings, shortcomings or deadlines for firms. It described the exercise as part of ongoing work on third-party resilience, secure innovation in response to AI and other emerging technologies, and cyber preparedness, response and recovery.
Testing Coordination During Cloud Disruption
A widespread cloud outage could affect multiple financial firms and services at once, making a response by individual companies alone insufficient. SIMEX26 tested whether firms and authorities could coordinate when disruption reaches beyond one institution and threatens services that customers and markets rely on. The Bank’s expectation that firms act on exercise lessons means the event is intended to inform preparedness, not simply rehearse a scenario.
The exercise also highlights the role of shared response arrangements. CMORG says its work includes identifying systemic risks, developing sector-wide mitigation approaches and sharing capabilities across the industry. The public announcement, however, does not establish how well participants performed or whether the simulation revealed gaps. Those details matter when judging whether the exercise will lead to concrete improvements.
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A Biennial Programme of Stress Tests
SIMEX is part of a continuing programme to rehearse responses to difficult operational scenarios across UK financial services. The Bank’s announcement says previous exercises in 2022 and 2024 covered a cyberattack against a major bank and disruption to critical infrastructure outside the financial sector. SIMEX26 shifted the scenario to a global disruption affecting cloud-based services.
CMORG is chaired by the Bank of England and UK Finance and brings together public authorities and industry participants. Its Sector Response Framework is intended to support a coordinated sector response to systemic incidents. The Bank described the latest simulation as building on work with authorities and industry to strengthen resilience to third-party disruption and severe cyber scenarios.
“That preparedness is essential to safeguarding financial stability.”
— Katharine Braddick, Bank of England Deputy Governor for Prudential Regulation and chief executive of the Prudential Regulation Authority
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Exercise Findings Not Yet Public
The Bank’s announcement does not disclose specific outcomes, performance assessments or any weaknesses identified during SIMEX26. It is also unclear which follow-up actions individual firms will take, how progress will be measured, or whether a public account of lessons learned will be released. The scenario was expressly described as not being based on specific threat information, so the exercise should not be read as evidence of an identified imminent cloud incident.
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Firms Expected to Apply Lessons
The immediate next step is for participating firms to act on lessons from the simulation, as the Bank of England expects. The announcement gives no timetable or detailed action plan. Further information about findings, sector-wide changes or follow-up monitoring would clarify how the exercise translates into stronger resilience and whether the response framework needs adjustment.
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Key Questions
What did SIMEX26 test?
It rehearsed a response by UK financial firms and authorities to a simulated global cloud services disruption.
Who took part in the exercise?
The exercise involved 38 major banks and market infrastructure operators, alongside the Bank of England, UK Finance, HM Treasury, the Financial Conduct Authority and other sector participants.
Was the scenario based on a known threat?
No. The Bank of England said the scenario was not informed by specific threat information and was developed with industry experts.
What happens after the simulation?
The Bank expects firms to take action based on the exercise. It has not publicly specified the actions, deadlines or measures for tracking progress.
Source: primary
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