Prior to the financial crisis, you may recall, most of the risk management talk in the banking industry was about protecting against a bird flu virus pandemic. While the mortgage-backed securities market was turning into a toxic wasteland, global regulatory agencies were more concerned about whether banks could function if everyone called in sick. This kind of stress test was forgotten about for six years, obviously, while the global financial system melted down.

Well, know bird fever is back, says the Financial Times. Always on top of things, reporter Tracy Alloway has a story today about it. Can banks, broker-dealers and asset managers function if 30% of their staff is wiped out by H7N9? Actually, I think they could. Didn’t they wipe out that many employees on their own after the crisis hit?

Photo: Charles Hutchins

Is your banker handling birds properly?

Related articles

• Advisory on SARS-like virus (thehindu.com)
• H7N9 is most adapted bird flu for human-to-human transmission, say experts (crofsblogs.typepad.com)
• New type bird flu in China claims 43 lives (worldbulletin.net)
• For Only The Second Time In Its History, The World Health Organization Has Called An Emergency Meeting About A Virus (businessinsider.com)