Operational Resilience: Evidencing Heightened Regulatory Expectations in 2026

For insurers specifically, the Bank of England’s 2026 supervisory priorities underscore the need for sustained investment in operational resilience. The PRA emphasises that firms must consider how macroeconomic uncertainty, geopolitical pressures and market volatility are affecting their operating models.

Insurers are still expected to maintain robust governance, enhance controls, and ensure continuity of critical functions under a range of stress conditions. While not new news to firms caught in-scope of the regulation, in 2026 this demands a greater commitment to strengthen operational resilience frameworks, mature scenario testing methodologies and evidence comfort over outsourced and intra‑group service arrangements.

Across financial services more broadly, regulators are increasingly interested in the interconnected nature of operational dependencies and how they manifest themselves. The rise in third‑party service concentration, greater reliance on cloud technology and recent large digital transformation initiatives have prompted greater scrutiny of how firms manage the third‑party risks they are exposed to.

There is a palpable shift required from reactive to proactive resilience and embedding these capabilities within regulated firms. However, it seems likely that 2026 will bring increased fragmentation in international regulatory approaches driven by differing attitudes toward competitiveness versus regulation. Global firms must adopt adaptable resilience strategies that remain compliant across multiple jurisdictions while remaining accountable for any local supervisory nuances that may be apparent.

This looks set to play out as a strategic capability for regulated firms, protecting against disruption whilst enhancing competitiveness and building stakeholder trust through robust testing. The firms that succeed will be those who embed operational resilience into all areas of their governance, culture and decision-making.