New York, NY, November 6, 2025 – SIFMA today released the following statement from Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr., SIFMA president and CEO, upon completion of SIFMA’s global industry-wide Quantum Dawn VIII cybersecurity exercise:

“Cyber threats to the financial services sector, and every other sector of the global economy, continue to grow in volume and complexity, necessitating ever increasing resiliency planning. As such, testing, planning, and preparedness remain a top priority for our industry.  In our most recent industry wide and global test, SIFMA’s Quantum Dawn VIII exercise simulated multiple distinct events which simultaneously impacted the sector. The overlapping nature of these events created a complex environment where resources were stretched thin and information sharing and decision-making was critical for maintaining operational integrity.

“In the multi-faceted scenario, participants worked through a major cyber outage at a fictional FMI, which required its disconnection and reconnection to critical infrastructure, the severing of a major transatlantic communications cable which caused widespread disruptions in telecommunications between the U.S. and Europe, and the physical threat of an East Coast hurricane—all of which tested the resilience of both core operations and data centers.

“The exercise engaged over 900 participants from more than 100 public and private sector institutions around the globe, including financial firms, central banks, regulators, and law enforcement entities.  Participants explored the impact and response to the crises in the scenario, working across a variety of business lines to determine what a real-world response to the fictional scenarios could look like.

“SIFMA and its member firms are deeply committed to regularly testing and enhancing the financial services sector’s cybersecurity resiliency and working with government partners to protect the broader economy.  Our sister trades—AFME in Europe and ASIFMA in Asia—share our commitment to cyber preparedness.  SIFMA, in its crisis coordination role, led the exercise, which included participants from SIFMA, AFME and ASIFMA member firms, as well as public sector crisis teams across the globe.

“Quantum Dawn VIII was designed to actively engage market stakeholders, share best practices with peer organizations, and validate the elements of existing crisis response playbooks both within firms and across the sector.

“A clear takeaway from the exercise is the importance of a robust partnership between the industry and government grounded in information sharing.  No single actor – not the government, nor any individual firm – has the resources to protect markets from cyber threats on their own, nor do cyber incidents restrict themselves to one geographic region.

“SIFMA will now work with Protiviti to analyze participant feedback and produce a public after-action report with key observations and recommendations for enhancing the financial services sector’s ability to respond to a poly-crisis. Protiviti has been a great partner in helping us develop and execute this exercise and we greatly appreciate their support.

“Cybersecurity is truly an issue where the interests of the industry and public sector are fully aligned. SIFMA and our members are constantly working to improve cyber defenses, resiliency and recovery through massive monetary investment in technology and personnel, regular training, industry exercises, and close coordination between the financial sector and the government, including our regulators. Best practices are developed and refined regarding penetration testing, insider threats, third-party risks, and secure data storage and recovery. The lessons learned from Quantum Dawn VIII will help shape these initiatives going forward.”

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SIFMA is the leading trade association for broker-dealers, investment banks and asset managers operating in the U.S. and global capital markets. On behalf of our industry’s one million employees, we advocate on legislation, regulation and business policy affecting retail and institutional investors, equity and fixed income markets and related products and services. We serve as an industry coordinating body to promote fair and orderly markets, informed regulatory compliance, and efficient market operations and resiliency. We also provide a forum for industry policy and professional development.  SIFMA, with offices in New York and Washington, D.C., is the U.S. regional member of the Global Financial Markets Association (GFMA).