From email alerts to working from home, financial companies are implementing contingency plans as protests rage in Hong Kong
- Banks say they’re focused on safety of their employees, still being able to provide services to customers as Hong Kong protests continue
- Employees are working remotely, getting email alerts on potential conflict points
Financial companies, among the most important drivers of Hong Kong’s economy, are ramping up security, temporarily closing branches and allowing staff to work from home as the city endures one of the worst political crises in its history.
They are also alerting workers to changing traffic conditions and potential conflict points by email as anti-government protests that disrupt transit and daily life in the city enter a fifth month. Radical demonstrators have been targeting businesses with mainland-China ties – and in some cases mainlanders themselves.
But there is only so much you can do once employees leave the building, financial providers said.
The long holiday weekend that culminated on Monday, October 7, was marked by some of the most violent clashes so far after Hong Kong’s government invoked a colonial-era emergency law to ban the wearing of face masks at public assemblies. Hard-core protesters vandalised MTR stations and mainland-associated businesses, including several Chinese bank branches.
