Financial Times 05Mar2020

(Kiana) #1

Thursday5 March 2020 ★ 11


The Financial Times Limited 2020© Week 10


Hundreds of conferences, from the
Geneva motor show to Giorgio
Armani’s Milan fashion show, have
already been cancelled since the global
coronavirus outbreak. The industry is
now braced for big events such as the
Olympics being canned.
Analysisi AGE 14P

Events industry on guard
as conferences cancelled

I L A N B E N Z I O N— JERUSALEM

Amazon as extended a free shippingh
offer to Palestinians in the occupied
West Bank after a Financial Times
investigation revealed that a promo-
tion for Israeli customers in the region
did not include their neighbours.

The ecommerce group began offering
freedeliveryonordersover$49toIsrael
— and Israeli settlements in the occu-
pied West Bank — in November. Resi-
dents of Palestinian towns, however,
were subject to shipping and handling
fees of $24 or more, unless they listed
theircountryasIsrael.
On February 26, following the FT’s
report, Palestinian finance and econ-
omy ministers sent a letter of protest to

Amazon chief executiveJeff Bezos, say-
ing that they were “astonished to learn
of Amazon’s policy” and calling for the
company’s “reprehensible practice” to
“ceaseimmediately”.
“In the hope of advancing a favoura-
ble outcome for the Palestinian people
and for Amazon, we write to invite you
toredresstheinequitiesanddiscrimina-
tory practice espoused by this Amazon
policy that was first reported by the
FinancialTimes,”thelettersaid.
“If it does not do so, then the world
will come to realise that the lofty words
and aspirations of Amazon’s commit-
ment to equality, fairness, and corpo-
rate social responsibility are entirely
hollow,”itadded.
Amazon said yesterday it had

extended its free shipping to the Pales-
tinian Territories last week — an about-
turn that the Palestinian ministers
claimedwastheresultoftheirlobbying.
However, Amazon said there were
“multiple technical, legal and logistical
challenges” that had prevented it from
offering free shipping services to cus-
tomersinthePalestinianTerritories.
Khaled Osaily, Palestinian economy
minister, told the FT that the territories'
government “welcomes this step for-
ward, but it’s not enough, because they
need to stop working with the [Israeli]
settlements[altogether]”.
In the aftermath of the FT report, Pal-
estinians and Israeli peace activists had
decried the discounting practice and
calledforaboycottoftheonlineretailer.

Amazon extends shipping discount to


West Bank Palestinians after FT report


requirements to monitor traders’ com-
munications, particularly in Europe.“If
it happens next week, we wouldn’t have
sufficient [recorded lines],” said a sen-
iorexecutiveatanotherlargeUSbank.
Banks are pushing regulators in the
UK and US to adopt a flexible approach
torulesoncompliancemonitoring.
TheUSSecuritiesandExchangeCom-
mission said it was considering “what
guidance and assistance may be appro-
priateaseventsdevelop”.
The FCA declined to comment, while
Citi, Goldman, JPMorgan and Morgan
Stanley declined to comment on their
businesscontinuityplanning.
Additional reporting by Katie Martin

extreme contingency plans... It’s
unlikelytohappen,butit’spossible.”
Goldman, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley
andCitigroup ave all been testing dis-h
aster-recovery sites in London and the
US in recent days, even as their trading
businesses deal with extremely volatile
market conditions, according to people
familiarwiththesituation.
While most banks have ample capac-
ity for staff to access internal networks
remotely, senior bank executives are
concerned about broadband capacity at
their employees’ homes, which could be
slowed down further if their children
arealsooffschoolusingtheinternet.
Another complication is regulatory

wanttowakeupandfindthattheUShas
half a million cases and someone tells
youtosendeverybodyhome.”
Investment bankers, administrators,
engineers, IT specialists, human
resources and senior management can
all work from home with relative ease,
butregulatoryandtechnologydemands
make the situation more complicated
for salespeople and traders. To prevent
all staff being forced into quarantine
over a single virus incident, banks are
looking at spreading them out between
headofficeanddisasterrecoverysites.
“It comes under our judgment — the
decision has got to be made every day,”
said one executive. “These are pretty

L AU R A N O O N A N— NEW YORK
ST E P H E N M O R R I S— LONDON


Banks are sending hundreds of staff to
test their UK and US disaster-recovery
sites, installing big screens in traders’
homes and pushing regulators for a
reprieve on trading rules so they can
keep their businesses on track during
thecoronavirusoutbreak.
The efforts by big global banks includ-
ingGoldmanSachs,JPMorgan haseandC
Morgan Stanley ome on top of businessc
continuity planning that has already led
to segregating staff in Asian cities at the
centreoftheglobalepidemic.
“We’re practising,” said a senior exec-
utive at one large US bank. “You don’t


Banks test disaster-recovery plans


3 Virus fears prompt action 3 Staff sent to multiple offices 3 Call to ease compliance rules


ThereleaseofthelatestJamesBondfilm
No Time to Die asbeendelayeduntilh
November,asHollywoodbeginsto
assesstheimpactofthecoronavirus
outbreak nbox-officereceipts.o
MGM,Universal nda EonProductions’
BarbaraBroccoli nda MichaelWilson
announcedthedelayyesterday“after
carefulconsiderationandthorough
evaluationoftheglobaltheatrical
marketplace”.Thelatestfilminthe
Bondfranchise,thefifthoutingfor
DanielCraigastheBritishsecretagent,
wasoriginallydueoutnextmonth.
Cinemasacrosstheglobehavebeen
forcedtoshutowingtothespreadofthe
coronavirus,withanumberofcountries
banningpublicgatherings stheytrytoa
stemthespreadofthedisease.
TheChineseboxofficemadeonly
$238minJanuaryandFebruary,
comparedwith$2.1bnduringthesame
periodayearago,accordingto
ComScore.China’scinemabusinessis
thesecondlargestintheworldafterthe
US,makingitacrucialmarketfora
blockbusterrelease.Thecountrymade
up$9.2bnof$42.5bnglobalbox-office
saleslastyear,ComScoresays.
SharesinAMCEntertainment,the
cinemachain,fellmorethan6percent
atmiddayinNewYork. nna NicolaouA

No time to release


Bond film held back


as box office suffers


‘These are
extreme

contingency
plans. It’s

unlikely to
happen, but

it’s possible’


Companies / Sectors / People


Companies
AIA................................................................... 10
AMC Entertainment................................ 11
Abercrombie & Fitch............................ 20
Alphabet......................................................... 7
Amazon......................................................9,
Anthem......................................................... 20
Apple.....................................................7,10,
BMW................................................................ 14
Bank of East Asia.................................... 13
Barclays........................................................... 7
Bayer.............................................................. 20
Belmond........................................................ 12
BlackRock....................................................... 9
Brakes Group............................................. 10
Bridge to India.......................................... 12
CVS................................................................. 20
Caixa................................................................ 13
Campbell Soup......................................... 20
Caxton Associates.................................. 19
Centene........................................................ 20
China Life.................................................... 10
Cigna.............................................................. 20
Citigroup........................................................ 11
Compass...................................................... 20
Covea.............................................................. 10
Crisil................................................................. 12
Cyrus Capital............................................ 12
Deutsche Bank............................................ 7
Disney............................................................. 13


Dollar Tree................................................. 20
DoorDash....................................................... 9
EasyJet........................................................... 12
Economist, The........................................ 10
Ellerman Investments........................... 12
Elliott Management................................ 13
Enron................................................................ 8
Eon Productions....................................... 11
Equifax........................................................... 19
Eurofins Scientific.................................. 20
Eventbrite.................................................... 14
Evonik Industries.................................... 20
Exor................................................................. 10
Facebook.............................................7,13,
Ferrari............................................................ 10
Fiat Chrysler............................................... 10
Flybe................................................................ 12
General Electric....................................8,
General Motors......................................... 14
Giorgio Armani......................................... 14
Goldman Sachs.................................7,11,
Google.............................................................. 7
H2O Asset Management.................... 19
HP Enterprise........................................... 20
Hammerson............................................... 20
HelloFresh................................................... 20
Informa.......................................................... 14
Intu Properties......................................... 20
JPMorgan...................................................... 11
JetBlue........................................................... 19

Juventus....................................................... 10
KPMG.............................................................. 19
Kirkland & Ellis......................................... 12
Kirkoswald Capital Partners............. 19
LVMH.............................................................. 12
LiveNation................................................... 14
Lufthansa..................................................... 12
MGM................................................................. 11
MSCI................................................................ 19
McDonald’s.................................................... 9
Metro AG..................................................... 10
Microsoft......................................................... 7
Morgan Stanley......................................... 11
Natixis............................................................ 19
Nestlé............................................................. 14
Nordstrom.................................................. 20
One River Asset Management........ 19
PartnerRe..................................................... 10
PayPal.............................................................. 9
Periscope...................................................... 13
Peugeot...................................................10,
Pixar................................................................. 13
Premier Inn................................................ 20
ReNew Power............................................ 12
Reckitt Benckiser.................................... 20
Reed Exhibitions..................................... 14
Relx.................................................................. 14
Rio Tinto...................................................... 20
Ritz, The........................................................ 12
Rolls-Royce................................................ 20

Ryanair........................................................... 12
S&P Global.................................................. 19
SB Energy.................................................... 12
SMBC............................................................... 13
Scor.................................................................. 10
Shard Capital............................................. 19
Skadden Arps............................................ 12
SoftBank........................................................ 12
Square............................................................ 13
Standard Chartered................................. 8
State Street.................................................. 9
Stobart Air................................................... 12
Sustainalytics............................................. 19
Sysco.............................................................. 10
Tesla................................................................
TikTok............................................................ 13
Twitter............................................................ 13
UBS.................................................................. 14
Uber................................................................... 9
UnitedHealth Group............................. 20
Universal........................................................ 11
Urban Outfitters..................................... 20
Vigeo Eiris................................................... 19
Vine.................................................................. 13
Virgin Atlantic........................................... 12
Volkswagen................................................. 14
Walmart........................................................... 9
Whitbread................................................... 20
Wizz Air......................................................... 12
Wm Morrison............................................ 20

Sectors
Aerospace & Defence.......................... 20
Airlines.....................................................12,
Automobiles.........................................10,
Banks.............................................................. 13
Chemicals.................................................... 20
Energy............................................................ 12
Financial Services.................................... 12
Financials................................................13,
Food & Beverage................................... 20
Healthcare...............................................2,
Industrials.........................................8,10,
Insurance...............................................10,
Media.........................................................11,
Mining........................................................... 20
Pharmaceuticals...................................... 20
Property....................................................... 20
Retail.........................................................11,
Retail & Consumer................................. 10
Support Services.................................... 20
Technology.....................................13,19,
Travel & Leisure...............................12,
People
Agnelli, Gianni........................................... 10
Baker, Lanny.............................................. 14
Barclay, Frederick.................................... 12
Barra, Mary................................................. 14
Bezos, Jeff.................................................... 11
Breden, Cathy............................................ 14

Broccoli, Barbara...................................... 11
Coffey, Greg............................................... 19
Crastes, Bruno........................................... 19
Dorsey, Jack................................................ 13
Elkann, John............................................... 10
Hohn, Christopher.................................... 8
Iger, Bob........................................................ 13
Immelt, Jeff................................................... 8
Jobs, Steve.................................................. 13
Kretinsky, Daniel..................................... 10
Law, Andrew.............................................. 19
Lewis, James.............................................. 19
Luff, Nick...................................................... 14
Marchionne, Sergio................................ 10
Nanda, Raman........................................... 12
Pettit, Baer.................................................. 19
Rihs, Olivier................................................. 14
Rustagi, Vinay........................................... 12
Sandberg, Sheryl...................................... 13
Segal, Ned.................................................... 13
Singer, Paul................................................. 13
Sinha, Sumant............................................ 12
Sweeney, Graeme...................................... 8
Viñals, José................................................... 8
Weiss, Shai................................................... 12
Welch, Jack.............................................8,
Wilson, Michael.......................................... 11
Windhorst, Lars........................................ 19
Zuckerberg, Mark.................................... 13

Twitter fightWill activist investor win


battle to oust site’s founder?— ANALYSIS, PAGE 13


Spanish reformationBusiness is wary of


new coalition’s labour plans— INSIDE EUROPE, PAGE 12


Tommy


Stubbington


Tail


Risk


Over to you, Christine. After the Federal Reserve delivered
an emergency half-a-percentage-point cut in interest rates
on Tuesday, pressure is rising for the European Central
Banktorespondwitheasingmeasuresofitsown.
Ms Lagarde has promised a more consensual style of
leadership at the ECB than that of her predecessor, Mario
Draghi. Now, just four months into her tenure, the eco-
nomic threat of coronavirus poses the first big challenge
aheadofnextThursday’spolicymeeting.
At the moment, government bond investors do not
appear to be expecting the kind of kitchen-sink response
favoured by Mr Draghi. Germany’s 10-year bond yield,
which serves as a benchmark for the eurozone, has fallen
0.2 percentage points in the week and a half since the
spread of the virus outside China began to dominate mar-
ketaction,tradingatminus0.63percentyesterday.Thatis
minor compared with a 0.5 percentage-point plunge in 10-
yearUSTreasuryyieldsoverthesameperiod.
In part, this reflects the ECB’s lack of room for manoeu-
vre. Euro-area interest rates
are already at a record low of
minus 0.5 per cent, while
debate rages over the nega-
tive side effects of life below
zero. But that, combined
with Ms Lagarde’s pledge to
seek a broad consensus,
means traders are pricing in
just 0.1 percentage points of
cutsnextweek.
“Youcan’thelpfeelingthiswouldlookdifferentifDraghi
was still in charge,” said Lyn Graham-Taylor, a Rabobank
strategist. “I think we’d be talking about another big pack-
age of rate cuts, QE, and other measures. Markets are pric-
inginsomeinstitutionalinertiaattheECB.”
Ratecutsarenottheonlytoolavailable.ECBpolicymak-
ers are reportedly considering a further round of cheap
loans to banks, targeted at those that fund small and medi-
um-sized businesses. And some investors expect the ECB
to beef up its €20bn a month bond-buying programme,
withPimco saying yesterday that the central bank “will
likelyincreasethepaceofitsassetpurchases”.
Lookingateurozonemarkets,thebigbeneficiariesofthe
Fed cut have been Italy and Greece. Both countries’ bonds
sold off sharply during the early part of the coronavirus
scare but have recouped much of their losses this week,
suggestingthehuntforyieldisnotyetdead.
The performance of Germany’s bonds also reflects the
possibility that Berlin may be drawing up a spending pack-
age to counter the impact of coronavirus, thinks Mr Gra-
ham-Taylor. German finance minister Olaf Scholz has
raised the possibility of suspending the country’s “debt
brake”,whichlimitsitsabilitytorunbudgetdeficits.
Since taking over, Ms Lagarde has argued that govern-
ments — particularly those getting paid to borrow — need
to do their bit when it comes to stimulating the economy,
rather than leaving it all to the ECB. The virus could yet
helpsparkthespendingspreeshehasbeenhopingfor.

Some expect the


ECB to beef up its
€20bn a month

bond-buying
programme

‘No Time to Die’ the fifth outing for Daniel Craig as the secret agent. China’s box office has made only $238m this yearis — Mladen Antonov/AFP via Getty

MARCH 5 2020 Section:2Front Time: 4/3/2020- 19:09 User:nick.miller Page Name:2FRONT USA, Part,Page,Edition:EUR, 11, 1

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