Preparing for the worst

The September 11 attacks have driven home to Asia’s banks the importance of back-up systems and dealing rooms. Melvyn Westlake examines the measures being taken.

In a nondescript 12-storey building tucked away in a charmless light-industrial area of Kowloon in Hong Kong, there is a large room containing 60 empty desks, replete with computer screens, consoles and telephones. At the flick of a switch, it could become a live dealing room. With luck, it will never be used.

For this is the alternative trading location that would be deployed in the event of a disaster preventing Merrill Lynch from functioning normally in its prime site at Citibank