Finance sector survives bird flu excersize

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      Finance sector survives bird flu exercise   

Fri Nov 24, 2006 5:16 PM GMT 

By Jane Merriman 

LONDON (Reuters) - The financial regulator said London's financial services sector had shown it could cope with a bird flu pandemic, after a six-week simulation that ended on Friday. 

The Financial Services Authority said early feedback showed that the sector, which includes some of the world's biggest banks, would be able to keep core services running in the face of huge disruption caused by a pandemic. 

The simulated pandemic broke out in southeast Asia and spread to Europe and around the rest of the world, causing absenteeism and transportation disruptions. 

"It was a bit daunting at 10am on a Monday morning dealing with this escalating pandemic. It was a bit like being in that film 'The Day After Tomorrow'," said a participant at a major bank who worked on the desk-bound exercise. 

"We were satisfied with how it went and it was useful to go through the process," she said. 

The H5N1 avian flu virus mostly affects birds, but it can occasionally infect people. It has infected 258 people in 10 countries and killed 153 of them. 

Experts say there is a danger the virus will evolve just slightly into a form that people can easily catch and pass to one another, in which case the transmission rate would soar, causing a pandemic in which millions of people could die. 

The FSA said the exercise, which was organised with the Bank of England, the Treasury and the FSA, showed that some areas needed more attention, such as people's access to cash, their ability to make mortgage payments and maintain insurance cover. 

Working from home for key staff, and returning to business as usual, also needed scrutiny, the FSA said. 

Major banks in the City of London have been gearing up to cope with a potential bird flu epidemic. Last year Citigroup, the world's biggest bank, set up an avian flu task force. 

The three authorities will publish more detailed findings on the simulation before the end of the year. 

The three routinely cooperate on business continuity planning for incidents that could cause major disruptions to the City of London financial services industry. 

Their continuity systems were put into action after the suicide bomb attacks on London's transport system in July last year. 

The three activated a secret Internet chatroom, which was set up after the September 11 bombings of the World Trade Centre in New York, which keeps communication open between banks and the authorities in a crisis.

http://uk.qa.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyID=2006-11-24T171626Z_01_L24288129_RTRUKOC_0_UK-FINANCIAL-BIRD-FLU.xml&pageNumber=0&imageid=&cap=&sz=13&WTModLoc=NewsArt-C1-ArticlePage2  

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Polly Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List V.I.P. Member Joined: November 02 2006 Location: California USA Status: Offline Points: 113	Post Options Post Reply Quote Polly Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Finance sector survives bird flu excersize Posted: November 24 2006 at 10:04am
	Finance sector survives bird flu exercise Fri Nov 24, 2006 5:16 PM GMT By Jane Merriman LONDON (Reuters) - The financial regulator said London's financial services sector had shown it could cope with a bird flu pandemic, after a six-week simulation that ended on Friday. The Financial Services Authority said early feedback showed that the sector, which includes some of the world's biggest banks, would be able to keep core services running in the face of huge disruption caused by a pandemic. The simulated pandemic broke out in southeast Asia and spread to Europe and around the rest of the world, causing absenteeism and transportation disruptions. "It was a bit daunting at 10am on a Monday morning dealing with this escalating pandemic. It was a bit like being in that film 'The Day After Tomorrow'," said a participant at a major bank who worked on the desk-bound exercise. "We were satisfied with how it went and it was useful to go through the process," she said. The H5N1 avian flu virus mostly affects birds, but it can occasionally infect people. It has infected 258 people in 10 countries and killed 153 of them. Experts say there is a danger the virus will evolve just slightly into a form that people can easily catch and pass to one another, in which case the transmission rate would soar, causing a pandemic in which millions of people could die. The FSA said the exercise, which was organised with the Bank of England, the Treasury and the FSA, showed that some areas needed more attention, such as people's access to cash, their ability to make mortgage payments and maintain insurance cover. Working from home for key staff, and returning to business as usual, also needed scrutiny, the FSA said. Major banks in the City of London have been gearing up to cope with a potential bird flu epidemic. Last year Citigroup, the world's biggest bank, set up an avian flu task force. The three authorities will publish more detailed findings on the simulation before the end of the year. The three routinely cooperate on business continuity planning for incidents that could cause major disruptions to the City of London financial services industry. Their continuity systems were put into action after the suicide bomb attacks on London's transport system in July last year. The three activated a secret Internet chatroom, which was set up after the September 11 bombings of the World Trade Centre in New York, which keeps communication open between banks and the authorities in a crisis. http://uk.qa.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyID=2006-11-24T171626Z_01_L24288129_RTRUKOC_0_UK-FINANCIAL-BIRD-FLU.xml&pageNumber=0&imageid=&cap=&sz=13&WTModLoc=NewsArt-C1-ArticlePage2
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