Kerstin af Jochnick (pictured), first deputy governor of Sweden’s Riksbank, has warned that the financial sector is exposed to risks in the form of cyber threats and needs to increase its resilience.
In a speech delivered in Stockholm on August 20th, af Jochnick said: “More co-operation and sharing of information between the financial sectors in different countries is also needed. Public authorities can play a key role here.”
This year’s spring survey of financial firms conducted by the Riksbank found that far fewer of them considered themselves “well prepared for cyber risk” compared to other key risks: credit risk, market risk, liquiditity risk or legal risk.
af Jochnick is the Riksbank’s representative on the Basel Committee for Banking Supervision.
In her speech this week, af Jochnick also said there was a need for increased preparedness in Sweden for the management of cyber risk in the vent of a crisis or war. “At present there is no authority with responsibility for the financial sector to lead the total defence planning for this sector. The Riksbank would be the appropriate authority to shoulder this responsibility,” she said.
