Research and analysis

Computer trading: systemic risk - a nuclear perspective

Report looking at possible lessons from the nuclear industry.

• From: Government Office for Science
• Published: 23 October 2012

Documents

Computer trading and systemic risk: a nuclear perspective (DR26)

Ref: BIS/12/1059

PDF, 823 KB, 77 pages

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Details

Financial markets have evolved to become complex adaptive systems which rely on the high communication speeds and processing power of digital systems. Their failure could cause severe disruption to financial services and possibly the wider economy.

This report considers whether the nuclear industry can provide any useful lessons for financial markets. It focuses on:

• the approaches to systemic risk definition and evaluation
• the definition of protection system parameters, risk controls and architecture
• the need for trust in computer-based systems

This review was commissioned as part of the Foresight project on the future of computer trading.

Published 23 October 2012