Who should be the only entity allowed to declare that an organization can return to normal following contingency or BCDR operations?

Regulators define compliance requirements but do not typically authorize an organization's internal return to normal operations.

Law enforcement may be involved in incident response but does not have the authority to declare an organization's return to normal business operations.

The incident manager leads the incident response and recovery efforts, but the decision to return to normal involves broader organizational and business risk considerations that fall under senior management's purview.

Senior management holds the ultimate responsibility for an organization's overall operations, risk posture, and business continuity strategy. Therefore, they are the only entity authorized to make the critical decision to declare a return to normal operations, ensuring that all critical business functions are stable, risks are appropriately mitigated, and the decision aligns with the organization's strategic objectives and risk tolerance.