By Christian Berthelsen, Liz Moyer, Brett Philbin and Matthias Rieker
Financial firms scrambled Monday to shift operations to backup
facilities and make accommodations for customers and employees and
as they closed offices and braced for Hurricane Sandy, which
brought 90-mile-an-hour winds up the East Coast.
Several retail banks closed branches in New York, New Jersey,
Connecticut and other states in the storm's path. Most businesses
encouraged workers to stay home, while some took precautions so
that employees with critical job functions could continue to
work.
The moves came as major stock exchanges, which decided late
Sunday to close markets on Monday, reached an agreement to remain
closed on Tuesday. U.S. bond markets will also be closed Tuesday,
after operating until noon on Monday.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the regulator for
federally chartered banks and thrifts, said financial institutions
directly affected by the storm were allowed to close though urged
them to reopen as quickly as possible.
As part of its "resiliency planning," most J.P. Morgan Chase
& Co. (JPM) facilities will be open during the storm except for
major office centers in lower Manhattan, and only key personnel
would work out of the affected buildings while business activity
was being relocated to other sites, according to a memo the New
York bank sent to employees on Monday.
J.P. Morgan, the largest U.S. bank by assets and the largest in
the New York metropolitan area by branches and deposits, also said
400 of its bank branches in the metro area would close at noon
Monday. More than 600 didn't open Monday.
Bank of America (BAC) said late Sunday that its offices at Two
and Four World Financial Center in lower Manhattan as well as its
city bank branches and Merrill Lynch wealth management offices
would be closed on Monday.
All other Bank of America office buildings, including its main
New York office at 1 Bryant Park, were expected to remain open.
American Express Co. (AXP), whose headquarters are located in
Three World Financial Center, told employees Monday its Tri-State
area offices would remain closed for a second straight day on
Tuesday, according to a spokesman.
Other banks, including Citigroup Inc. (C), Wells Fargo & Co.
(WFC) and Capital One Financial Corp. (COF) also closed most or all
branches in New York, New Jersey and other affected areas.
HSBC Bank USA, the U.S. banking subsidiary of HSBC Holdings Plc
(HBC), closed most of its retail banking branches in the metro New
York area and planned to keep select branches in New Jersey,
Connecticut, Long Island and Westchester county, New York, open
until noon.
"Where possible, we are encouraging employees in the areas
affected by the hurricane to work from home," the bank said.
Many major financial firms closed offices in affected areas or
where transportation closures made it difficult to commute,
encouraging workers who were able to work from home to do so.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) on Sunday said non-critical
employees were working from home, though they also had the option
of working from offices in Greenwich, Conn., or Princeton, N.J.
Goldman's headquarters building is located in lower Manhattan
close to the Hudson River, which is expected to surge more than
eight feet. The investment bank also has a significant presence
directly across the river from its headquarters building, near the
water in Jersey City, N.J.
UBS AG's (UBS) Wealth Management Americas business closed about
50 branches in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, coastal New
England and other affected areas, a spokeswoman said Monday.
However, many employees, especially financial advisers, were
working from home and staying in touch with their clients, while
calls to closed branches were being rerouted to an open branch in
another area of the country.
Barclays PLC (BCS, BARC.LN) said its main offices at 745 Seventh
Ave. and 200 Park Ave remained open Monday, though it asked staff
with non-essential functions to work from home.
Morgan Stanley (MS) said it has about 20,000 employees in the
area affected by the storm and about 15,000 employees are currently
working logged into their desk computers from external
locations.
The investment bank said it had invoked its "Business Continuity
Management Plan," which plans disruptions and calls for
pre-positioning of staff in accessible locations and transfer of
functions to other domestic and international offices.
"As such, we are open for business and ensuring that the needs
of our clients are met, while also providing for the safety of
affected employees,' the company said in a statement.
Credit Suisse Group AG (CS, CSGN.VX) kept its New York City
headquarters at Madison Square Park open for critical staff and
said it arranged bus transportation and hotels for those employees.
Lazard Ltd.'s (LAZ) New York City office, located high up in
Rockefeller Center, also remained open, though employees were
allowed to work remotely.
Money manager T. Rowe Price Group (TROW), based in Baltimore,
closed its offices early Monday to the bulk of its employees,
leaving just a small handful of essential personnel and operations
staff on hand, according to spokesman Brian Lewbart.
With 3,821 employees in the region, the closure affected nearly
three quarters of T. Rowe's overall staff. The company's
headquarters are just steps from Baltimore's Inner Harbor
waterfront, and suffered some flooding during 2003's Hurricane
Isabel, Mr. Lewbart said.
(Andrew R. Johnson, Mia Lamar and Michael Driscoll contributed
to this story.)
-Write to Andrew R. Johnson at andrew.r.johnson@dowjones.com
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