U.K. bank regulators are launching a new type of 'stress test' that forces banks to consider unlikely but potentially disastrous scenarios

For U.K. Banks, a Calamity Is Born - WSJ.com: "U.K. bank regulators are launching a new type of 'stress test' that forces banks to consider unlikely but potentially disastrous scenarios like a flu pandemic or disruptions to the country's food-supply chain.

Disaster Planning
Scenarios U.K. banks are evaluating under new FSA 'stress tests'
It is a far cry from the comparatively quaint variables, bursting property bubbles and economic downturns, that regulators traditionally have used to gauge banks' financial health.

The latest exercise, which the U.K.'s Financial Services Authority instructed banks to start conducting in mid-December, is dubbed a 'reverse stress test.' It requires banks to identify potentially fatal events and then to work backward to find ways to revamp their businesses so they would be better prepared to withstand such shocks."