A business continuity plan answers a simple, uncomfortable question: what happens to clients if the office, the systems, or a key person suddenly becomes unavailable? Regulators expect advisers to have thought it through in advance, because a fiduciary cannot simply go dark on the people relying on it.
A business continuity plan typically addresses data backup and recovery, alternate work locations and communications, access to critical systems, and how the firm keeps serving clients through a disruption. It should identify the truly critical functions, the ones that cannot pause, and how each is sustained when normal operations are not available.
For small advisers, the sharpest business-continuity risk is often a single person: what happens to clients if the principal is incapacitated or dies. Regulators have signaled that succession and key-person planning belong inside continuity planning, so the plan should name who steps in and how clients are protected and transitioned. This is where continuity meets the human reality of a small firm.
A continuity plan that has never been tested tends to fail when it is needed. The expectation is a plan that is reviewed, updated as the firm changes, and realistic about what the firm could actually execute under stress.
Plan for the disruption before it plans for you.
VGCCO is a compliance consultancy, not a law firm. This is general information, not legal advice.