Step 1: Definition of a Critical Business Service in Operational Resilience A Critical Business Service is one whose failure could result in severe harm to customers, financial markets, or the firm's viability.
Regulators (e.g., Bank of England, Basel Committee, PRMIA) define three primary factors for identifying critical services:
Customer impact
Market integrity impact
Firm viability impact
Step 2: Why Option C Is Incorrect
Risk appetite is an internal business decision, not an external measure of criticality.
A service can be critical even if its disruption stays within risk appetite.
Criticality is based on external impacts, not just internal risk limits.
Step 3: Why the Other Options Are Correct
Option A ("Material customer detriment") → Correct as customer harm defines critical services.
Option B ("Harm to market integrity") → Correct as market stability is a regulatory priority.
Option D ("Threaten firm viability") → Correct as critical services often determine business survival.
PRMIA Risk Reference Used:
PRMIA Operational Resilience Framework - Defines criteria for critical business services.
Basel Committee Operational Risk Guidelines - Highlights customer, market, and firm viability as resilience factors.
Final Conclusion:
Risk appetite is an internal benchmark, not a measure of critical service designation, making Option C the correct answer.