ADVERTISEMENT

Deutsche Bank, Goldman, UBS Curb Italy Travel Amid Virus Scare

How Banks Are Cracking Down on Italian Travel Amid Virus Scare

(Bloomberg) -- As the coronavirus roils Italy’s industrial heartland, global banks including Deutsche Bank AG and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are restricting their staff from traveling to Europe’s fourth-largest economy.

Italy has become Europe’s worst-hit nation from a global outbreak that was originally reported in China. Vast swathes of the industrialized north are in a virtual lockdown, including Milan -- the country’s financial hub, home to most domestic Italian banks and international firms’ local headquarters.

Deutsche Bank effectively banned visits to the affected regions, asking staff “to defer all non-business essential travel,” according to a statement Tuesday. The German bank has a network of branches in Italy and employed 3,645 staff locally at the end of 2018, the lender’s fourth-biggest presence outside its home market.

Deutsche Bank, Goldman, UBS Curb Italy Travel Amid Virus Scare

Goldman Sachs is also restricting all business travel to, from and within the Veneto region and Lombardy, the area around Milan, according to a memo sent to employees on Tuesday. The Wall Street firm is also postponing all non-essential business travel to, out of or within the rest of Italy.

Read More: An Economic Map of Italy and Its Rich North

International banks and domestic firms, like UniCredit SpA, are encouraging employees working in the worst-hit areas to work from home, cancel face-to-face meetings and hold conference calls with clients instead.

Morgan Stanley has limited travel to Italy to business-critical trips, with managers required to sign off on any travel, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Similar restrictions were applied at Credit Suisse Group AG, while UBS Group AG asked employees to defer all non-essential business travel to northern Italy, other people familiar with the banks’ situations have said.

Representatives for Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse declined to comment. A spokesperson for UBS said the bank is monitoring the situation closely and is in contact with relevant authorities.

--With assistance from Donal Griffin, Harry Wilson, Jake Rudnitsky, Patrick Winters and Dinesh Nair.

To contact the reporters on this story: Sonia Sirletti in Milan at ssirletti@bloomberg.net;Steven Arons in Frankfurt at sarons@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Dale Crofts at dcrofts@bloomberg.net, Keith Campbell, Marion Dakers

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.