The Audit Committee Forum Position Paper 9 provides guidelines to Audit Committees on Business Continuity, which is a discipline that considers an organisation's ability to maintain essential functions during and after a disaster has occurred, and to recover with as little downtime as possible.
The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the dangers in not anticipating risks and that severe risks may be just around the corner. A Business Continuity Plan considers various unpredictable events, such as natural disasters, and other external threats. It is a framework which allows key functions of an organisation to continue even if the worst happens after unpredictable events and as such, acts as a medium to mitigate disruptions.
Audit Committees and Boards of Directors must consider and manage ongoing and emerging risks more than ever, by putting safeguards into place so as to ensure business resilience and continuity.
