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Citi's BS 25999 Certification Process

Background

For Citi, the leading global financial services company, business continuity is crucial. With so many customers and its strong reputation in the financial services sector, operating as effectively and efficiently as possible is necessary to ensure the safety and protection its customers require and to maintain customer confidence in Citi brands.

Citi had established its own business continuity standard to develop common practices across the company and to create a governance structure that ensures global compliance by all Citi businesses.

By certifying to BS 25999, Citi would gain global recognition as a company committed to ongoing improvement of its business continuity program, ensuring its customers receive the best possible service.

The Road to BS 25999 Certification

The BS 25999 certification process was brief for Citi, due in large part to its sophisticated internal business continuity program. The objective was to review its existing standard to ensure it was going down the right path by identifying opportunities for improvements and finding any minor or major nonconformities with business continuity guidelines. During the assessment, BSI reviewed Citi’s existing program by looking at policy statements and standards to determine whether Citi complied with BS 25999 guidelines. To gain a thorough understanding of Citi’s existing program, BSI’s audit team spent an extensive amount of time with Citi’s corporate management team, and interviewed staff to determine whether documented procedures were executed and to assess staff qualification levels.

Assessment Outcome

Although the assessment results showed no minor or major nonconformities, opportunities for improvement were identified and Citi is incorporating BSI’s recommendations into its current business continuity program. "The feedback was both informative and constructive and in line with Citi’s commitment to ongoing improvement of Business Continuity Governance, Planning, and Education," says Stephanie Jackson, Senior Vice President and Training and Awareness Manager.

Citi’s Advice for Certification

For companies considering or implementing BS 25999, Jackson recommends identifying the scope of the initial review and mapping internal business continuity documentation against each of the BS 25999 standards to facilitate a more efficient process and to improve certification time frames.

Why BS 25999

BS 25999 is a widely-known and recognized business continuity standard and is the product of a broad-based group of world class experts representing a cross-section of industry sectors and the government to establish the process, principles, and terminology of Business Continuity Management. Certification to BS 25999 demonstrates to stakeholders and customers that your organisation is in compliance with the BCM best practice.