HSBC prepares for flu pandemic

LONDON AND HONG KONG – Global bank HSBC announced early this month that its risk team is taking World Health Organization (WHO) warnings of a possible pandemic of a human form of bird flu very seriously.

Bob Piggott, head of group crisis management at HSBC, says half of its staff could fall ill or be absent from work during such a crisis. "I would rather be prepared for the worst, even if this is over-estimating the numbers of people effected," he says. This figure of 50% contrasts with the UK government's estimate that there would be an estimated 8% drop in productivity as a result of such a pandemic.

HSBC has devised plans in the wake of any such epidemic with a strategy to allow for increased