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The Cross-Market Operational Resilience Group completed SIMEX26 on 8 October, rehearsing how the UK financial sector and authorities would respond to a simulated global cloud services disruption. The Bank of England said firms are expected to act on lessons from the exercise, but the authorities have not published specific findings or actions.
The Cross-Market Operational Resilience Group (CMORG) completed a sector-wide exercise on 8 October 2026, testing how UK financial firms and public authorities would respond to a simulated global disruption to cloud services. The biennial exercise involved 38 major banks and market infrastructure operators and focused on maintaining essential services during a severe operational incident.
Known as SIMEX26, the exercise brought firms together with financial authorities in a crisis-management scenario. CMORG is chaired by the Bank of England and UK Finance; participants also included HM Treasury, the Financial Conduct Authority and the wider financial sector. The London Stock Exchange Group hosted the event, which was opened by Economic Secretary to the Treasury Lucy Rigby.
The exercise also included a live meeting of the Cross Market Business Continuity Group, chaired by the Bank. The group provides strategic direction for the sector’s collective response to systemic incidents. The Bank said it expects participating firms to take action based on the exercise to strengthen their resilience and ability to respond to severe operational and cyber scenarios.
The authorities did not describe SIMEX26 as a response to an actual outage. The Bank said the scenario was not based on specific threat information and was developed with industry experts. It has not published detailed findings, identified gaps revealed by the exercise or set out firm-by-firm follow-up measures.
Preparing for Cloud Service Disruption
Financial firms rely on technology services to support operations, and a disruption affecting cloud-based services could test their ability to keep important functions running. SIMEX26 gave firms and authorities a chance to rehearse their coordination and crisis response in a shared scenario, rather than addressing the problem as separate organisations.
The exercise matters because a widespread technology incident could require decisions across banks, market infrastructure operators and public authorities at the same time. A coordinated response is intended to help protect essential financial services and public confidence. The Bank’s call for follow-up action signals that the test is meant to inform preparedness; the published release does not say what specific changes firms will make or whether any particular weakness was identified.
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SIMEX Builds on Earlier Exercises
SIMEX is a recurring programme designed to rehearse responses to challenging disruption scenarios and support operational resilience across UK finance. Previous exercises in 2022 and 2024 covered a cyberattack against a major bank and disruption to critical infrastructure outside the financial sector.
CMORG also oversees the sector’s Sector Response Framework, which sets out an approach for responding collectively to systemic incidents. The Bank says SIMEX exercises this framework and supports the development of shared response capabilities. Its recent resilience work has included third-party engagement, cyber preparedness and response, recovery planning, and secure innovation as firms adopt AI and other emerging technologies.
“That preparedness is essential to safeguarding financial stability.”
— Katharine Braddick, Bank of England Deputy Governor for Prudential Regulation and CEO of the Prudential Regulation Authority
Exercise Findings Not Yet Published
The Bank’s release does not detail what participants learned, whether the exercise exposed operational gaps or which recommendations will follow. It also does not describe the simulated outage’s duration, affected services, or the sequence of events participants were asked to manage. The scenario was explicitly not informed by specific threat intelligence, so it should not be read as evidence that a particular cloud provider or live threat is responsible for an incident.
The statement that firms are expected to act on the exercise is clear, but the actions, deadlines and monitoring arrangements have not been set out publicly. It is not yet clear whether further findings or sector guidance will be released.
Firms to Apply Exercise Lessons
The immediate next step is for participating firms to consider the exercise and take action to strengthen their resilience, as the Bank expects. CMORG’s wider work is intended to support collective response tools and cooperation among firms and authorities. The release does not announce a timetable for follow-up or a date for the next SIMEX exercise.
Further detail on any sector-wide lessons, guidance or changes to response arrangements would clarify how the simulated scenario will translate into operational practice. For now, the confirmed outcome is that the exercise took place and that firms are expected to use it to improve their readiness for severe disruption.
Key Questions
What was SIMEX26?
SIMEX26 was CMORG’s biennial crisis-management simulation for the UK financial sector. Its scenario focused on a simulated global disruption to cloud services.
Who took part in the exercise?
The exercise involved 38 major banks and market infrastructure operators, alongside financial authorities including the Bank of England, UK Finance, HM Treasury and the Financial Conduct Authority.
Was SIMEX26 triggered by a real cloud outage or specific threat?
No. The Bank said the scenario was not informed by specific threat information. It was a simulation developed with industry experts, not a response to a confirmed live outage.
What happens after the exercise?
The Bank expects firms to take action based on the exercise to strengthen their resilience. The published announcement does not specify the findings, required measures or deadlines.
Source: primary
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