What is CRI?
The Cyber Risk Institute (CRI) Profile is a globally recognized framework that helps financial institutions align with overlapping cybersecurity and regulatory expectations. Built in collaboration with banks, regulators, and trade associations, the CRI Profile acts as a common baseline for supervisory exams, board reporting, and vendor risk assurance.
Rather than replace existing regulations, the CRI Profile harmonizes requirements from frameworks like FFIEC (U.S.), DORA (EU), and APRA (Australia). It organizes them into 319 diagnostic statements mapped to actionable controls across four "impact tiers," scaled by institutional complexity.
CRI is not a formal certification or audit program. Instead, regulators increasingly expect organizations to use the CRI Profile to demonstrate cyber resilience and regulatory readiness during supervisory reviews.
Who should align with the CRI profile?
CRI is designed for financial institutions and their service providers who operate under regulatory scrutiny or across multiple jurisdictions. This includes:
Banks and credit unions (Tier 1–4 institutions)
Fintech, payments, and SaaS providers serving regulated entities
Insurance companies and financial market infrastructures
Internal teams focused on cybersecurity, risk, compliance, audit, or regulatory affairs
Even if CRI isn’t contractually required, many institutions use it as a de facto standard to streamline oversight, simplify board reporting, and reduce audit duplication across frameworks.
What is the timeline for CRI compliance?
There’s no mandated timeline or centralized certification process. But alignment typically follows this lifecycle:
Prework – Identify your CRI impact tier (1–4), affected systems, and internal stakeholders.
Gap Assessment – Map current controls to CRI’s diagnostic statements and flag missing evidence or safeguards.
Remediation and Documentation – Implement controls (e.g., encryption, access, vendor risk) and draft CRI-aligned policies.Ongoing Readiness – Maintain compliance across business units, tiers, and jurisdictions with continuous monitoring.
Supervisory reviews can happen at any time, especially if you're expanding into new geographies, onboarding large clients, or facing incident investigations. Teams should stay exam-ready year-round.
Does this require a formal audit or certification?
Evaluated by regulators, not a central body: Alignment is reviewed during supervisory exams or regulator-led reviews.
Timing depends on the review: Regulators typically give 30–90 days’ notice, outlining what evidence and materials will be required. Companies must be prepared to provide everything once the review begins.Varies by geography and tier: For example, FFIEC in the U.S. or DORA in the EU may drive expectations.
Service provider obligations: Vendors may be asked to show CRI alignment when serving regulated financial institutions.
Best practice: Many organizations run internal audits annually or ahead of supervisory exams to reduce risk and consulting costs.