Question 1

What is DORA and when does it apply?

Accepted Answer

DORA (Digital Operational Resilience Act) is an EU regulation (Regulation 2022/2554) that establishes a unified framework for managing ICT risk across the financial sector. It entered into force on 16 January 2023 and applies from 17 January 2025. DORA covers banks, insurance companies, investment firms, payment institutions, crypto-asset service providers, and critical ICT third-party service providers operating in the EU. The regulation introduces binding requirements for ICT risk management, incident reporting, resilience testing, third-party risk oversight, and information sharing.

Question 2

Who must comply with DORA?

Accepted Answer

DORA applies to over 22,000 financial entities across the EU, including credit institutions (banks), insurance and reinsurance undertakings, investment firms, payment institutions, electronic money institutions, crypto-asset service providers (CASPs), central securities depositories, trading venues, fund managers (UCITS and AIFMs), credit rating agencies, and crowdfunding service providers. It also designates critical ICT third-party service providers (CTPPs) who serve these entities. If your organisation holds a financial services licence in an EU member state or provides critical ICT services to those that do, DORA applies to you.

Question 3

What is the DORA Register of Information?

Accepted Answer

The Register of Information is a mandatory structured record of all contractual arrangements with ICT third-party service providers, required under DORA Article 28(3). Financial entities must maintain this register at entity, sub-consolidated, and consolidated levels. It must document every ICT service provider relationship including the nature of the service, whether it supports critical or important functions, data processing locations, subcontracting chains, and exit strategies. The register must be reported to competent authorities upon request. Venvera generates this register automatically from your provider and contract data and exports it in the EBA-mandated xBRL-CSV format across all 15 required tables.

Question 4

What is xBRL-CSV and why does DORA require it?

Accepted Answer

xBRL-CSV (Extensible Business Reporting Language in CSV format) is the technical reporting format mandated by the European Banking Authority (EBA) for submitting the DORA Register of Information. It consists of 15 interconnected CSV tables covering entity identification, ICT third-party providers, contractual arrangements, functions supported, data locations, and subcontracting chains. Each table follows strict field definitions, controlled vocabularies, and cross-referencing rules defined in the EBA ITS. Building these files manually in spreadsheets is error-prone due to the cross-table dependencies and validation rules. Venvera generates all 15 xBRL-CSV tables automatically from your platform data with built-in validation.

Question 5

How do you pass a DORA supervisory assessment?

Accepted Answer

Supervisory authorities assess DORA compliance by examining five pillars: your ICT risk management framework (Article 6), incident reporting capabilities (Article 19), digital operational resilience testing programme (Article 24), third-party ICT risk management including the Register of Information (Article 28), and information sharing arrangements (Article 45). To pass, you need documented policies, a complete and current Register of Information, evidence of incident classification and reporting within required timeframes, a testing programme proportionate to your risk profile, and board-level oversight with documented accountability. Venvera provides structured workflows, audit trails, and exportable evidence packages for each pillar.

Question 6

What are the DORA incident reporting deadlines?

Accepted Answer

DORA requires financial entities to report major ICT-related incidents to their competent authority using a three-stage process: an initial notification within 4 hours of classifying the incident as major (and no later than 24 hours after detection), an intermediate report within 72 hours of the initial notification with updated information on impact and root cause, and a final report within one month of the intermediate report with full root cause analysis, impact assessment, and remediation actions. Classification criteria include the number of clients affected, data loss, duration, geographic spread, and criticality of services impacted. Venvera tracks these deadlines automatically and generates pre-formatted reports for each stage.

Question 7

What is DORA Article 5(2) personal liability for board members?

Accepted Answer

DORA Article 5(2) places direct responsibility on the management body (board of directors or equivalent) to define, approve, oversee, and be accountable for the implementation of the ICT risk management framework. This means individual board members can face personal liability if the organisation fails to establish or maintain adequate ICT risk management. Board members must demonstrate they have approved ICT risk policies, allocated sufficient resources, reviewed ICT risk reports regularly, and ensured adequate training. Venvera tracks board-level approvals, policy sign-offs, and oversight activities so you can demonstrate Article 5(2) compliance with a clear evidence trail.

DORA COMPLIANCE SOFTWARE: REGISTER OF INFORMATION, ICT RISK, AND xBRL-CSV EXPORT

REGISTER OF INFORMATION WITH ONE-CLICK xBRL-CSV EXPORT

ICT RISK MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK FOR DORA ARTICLE 6

INCIDENT REPORTING WITH 4-HOUR CLASSIFICATION DEADLINE

THIRD-PARTY ICT RISK AND CONCENTRATION ANALYSIS

BOARD LIABILITY TRACKING FOR DORA ARTICLE 5(2)

DORA GAP ASSESSMENT AND COMPLIANCE ROADMAP

DORA COMPLIANCE: VENVERA VS SPREADSHEETS

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT DORA

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