National Bank of Belgium report highlights operational resilience and fraud risks and notes stronger oversight of financial messaging providers

The National Bank of Belgium has published its 2026 report on financial market infrastructures and payment service providers, framing their resilience as critical to financial stability. The report centers on operational resilience as cyber threats, fraud patterns, reliance on third-party technology providers, and geopolitical and physical security risks intensify. It says firms need robust governance, effective crisis communication and regular testing of contingency arrangements so critical services remain secure and functional under severe but plausible stress scenarios. Supporting detail in the report points to sector-wide crisis simulations as a key tool for testing response capabilities and coordination across the financial sector. A recent exercise indicated that resilience depends not only on technology but also on people, governance and well-tested procedures. The report also says operational resilience should not be viewed only through a digital lens, citing insider threats, critical site protection, and the resilience of data centers and other essential facilities, while warning that payment fraud is rising with the digitalization of payments, wider use of remote payment methods and more sophisticated social engineering. It also notes that new Belgian legislation has entered into force to strengthen oversight of financial messaging service providers such as Swift, giving the National Bank of Belgium stronger oversight powers to be exercised with other Group of Ten central banks.