Top banks home in on safety as festive period ends

Five major banks are among companies telling employees to work from home for two weeks as they step up their response to the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus.

Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong), Bank of China (Hong Kong), Hang Seng Bank and Bank of East Asia, are encouraging back-office staff to consider working from home. That was followed by Hong Kong's decision to raise its response level to "emergency" to contain the spread of the virus, which is believed to have a 14-day incubation period.

The banks said they will require employees in branches to wear surgical masks.

The Hong Kong Association of Banks advised customers to access banking services through electronic channels, such as mobile, internet and phone banking, to avoid crowds.

HSBC, Standard Chartered, UBS, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Citigroup are among financial firms that have also imposed travel restrictions to the mainland, where the death toll exceeds 100.

The Monetary Authority has raised the response level of its contingency plan and adopted measures to ensure basic functionality.

Standard Chartered said all Hong Kong staff who traveled or have household members who traveled to the mainland should stay at home and self-isolate for 14 days. HSBC, Morgan Stanley, UBS, BNP Paribas, and Deutsche Bank have adopted similar measures.

Some firms have extended the public holiday, which was supposed to end yesterday. PricewaterhouseCoopers has extended the holiday for staff in Hong Kong and Macau to Friday, while Convoy Global chose to extend the holidays to February 2.

Local telecom firm HKBN Group has allowed all office and back-end support staff in Hong Kong, Macau, the mainland, Singapore and Malaysia to work from home until February 16. HGC Global Communications said staff in Hong Kong can work from home after the holidays while some departments will adopt flexible working arrangements. Pay-TV operator I-Cable Communications said staff who are uncomfortable or pregnant don't have to work until February 2.

Foreign companies Starbucks and office-sharing company WeWork are shutting locations in China, while Facebook, Nissan Motor and other firms are taking measures to shield employees in areas hardest hit by a deadly viral outbreak.

WeWork is closing 55 offices across China temporarily and encouraging staff to work from home or in private rooms. Facebook employees based in China or returning from China have been told to work from home.