Finland conducts financial sector resilience exercise with US and regional partners

The Ministry of Finance of Finland conducted an exercise called Northern Bastion on 29 and 30 August 2023 in Helsinki, Finland, designed to improve financial sector resilience in the Baltic Sea region by developing and exercising approaches for maintaining business continuity through cross-border coordination and cooperation.

The event was hosted by the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats and included participation from government representatives from Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and the United States.

The event allowed participating governments to examine and develop their respective policies, procedures and general readiness to respond during an incident in which a concurrent cybersecurity incident and damage to physical infrastructure in the region disrupts the digital processes of the financial sector.

All participants came from their respective national authorities, representing finance ministries, central banks, financial regulators and cybersecurity agencies. The participants from Finland were the Ministry of Finance, the Bank of Finland, the Financial Supervisory Authority, the Financial Stability Authority and the National Cyber Security Centre. In addition, US research partners from the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) were in attendance to inform and facilitate the exercise.

“The financial sector is part of our critical infrastructure and its disruption could disrupt the functioning of society. The Russian aggression against Ukraine and changes in the security environment in the Baltic Sea region require closer collaboration between our allies and partners. Financial sector authorities have an important role in bolstering our shared resilience”, says Jaakko Weuro, Head of the Banking and Financial Infrastructure Unit at the Ministry of Finance of Finland.

Inquiries

Jaakko Weuro, Director, Head of Unit, tel. +358 295 530 322, jaakko.weuro(at)gov.fi