Derivatives houses in Hong Kong including HSBC, JPMorgan andStandard Chartered Bank, are reintegrating their trading operations after the recent lifting of a travel ban by the World Health Organization. At the height of the SARS virus outbreak last month, several firms introduced drastic measures, such as setting up separate desks and shipping staff overseas (DW, 4/13). "There's still some travel restrictions, for instance Taiwan, but everyone's back in the main dealing room," said Pierre Goad, spokesman at HSBC in Hong Kong. The fifty-plus treasury and capital markets staff that relocated to makeshift desks during the crisis (DW, 4/20) moved back in stages last week, Goad continued.
"It's now business as usual," said Dennis Wong, North East Asia regional head of interest-rate derivatives at Standard Chartered in Hong Kong. He noted that the bank has just brought back the 25% of its global markets employees.
