Status Report on WTC-affected Financial Firms

September 13, 2001 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - As emergency workers sift through the rubble where the World Trade Center once stood, the investment companies, financial services firms and regulators which once operated out of New York's financial district, are attempting to regain their footing.

For some, the losses are devastating. Harwick Simmons, chief executive of the Nasdaq Stock Market, noted that 19 of the 32 small stock brokerage firms located in the World Trade Center failed to respond to a test of the market’s electronic network, according to a report in the Washington Post.

And regulators don’t yet know the names of the 19 or where customers of those firms should go to find out about their accounts or recover their money, according to the newspaper.

For plan sponsors concerned about the well being of their business partners,  Plansponsor.com has compiled this roundup of the status of the employees and business activities of some of the financial firms affected by the blast.

Morgan Stanley

It is estimated that most of the 3,700 employees at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co, the complex’s largest tenant, got out of the building safely. Fewer than 40 employees remain unaccounted for. The investment bank, which occupied more than 20 floors in the South Tower, is open for business under heightened security.

Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald, which occupied floors 101 through 105 of the North Tower, is perhaps the firm with the highest toll. The group cannot account for more than 900 staff members out of the 1,000 who were based at the World Trade Center.

Lehman Brothers

Lehman Brothers, which reports to have been in contact with “substantially all’ of its New York employees has moved its business activities and support systems to alternate locations and continues to serve clients.

CSFB

Credit Suisse First Boston, which has offices in a building adjacent to the fallen towers, said its offices on Madison Avenue were unaffected by the disaster and remain open.

Citigroup

Citigroup employees occupied 7 World Trade, a building adjacent to the Twin Towers, which collapsed some hours after the attack. Employees were evacuated, but not all are accounted for. Staff members will operate from Citigroup’s other locations in Connecticut and New Jersey.

Schroder Salomon Smith Barney

Schroder Salomon Smith Barney also occupied space in 7 World Trade and safely evacuated employees. The group stated that many branches are currently staffed, and the group is prepared to resume trading when the market opens

Fred Alger Management

Fred Alger Management, which rented space on the 93rd floor of the North tower, has lost its president. David Alger has been confirmed dead and 38 out of 55 employees remain unaccounted for.

Chairman and Founder Fred Alger will act as president of the firm. A nucleus of research analysts survived the disaster, and the group’s administrative, marketing, and fund pricing functions, which operate in New Jersey, were unaffected.

Keefer, Bruyette & Woods

Brokerage firm Keefer, Bruyette & Woods, located on floors 85, 88 and 89 of the South Tower, has lost its co-CEO, Joseph Berry, according to the New York Post. The fate of employees is unknown.

Oppenheimer Funds

In a message on its Web site, Oppenheimer Funds, which occupied the 31st and 34th floor of the South Tower, expressed confidence in its ability to handle normal business demands.

The message, which stressed that the group’s disaster recovery plans have been successfully implemented, added that critical services in the group’s New York office have been relocated to other venues and that all shareholder records are kept in Denver and are backed-up daily.

Clearstream

The core business operations of Clearstream International, a clearing and settlement group, which offers services for equities, bonds and investment funds, are operating as normal and all employees are safe, the company reported on its Web site.

The company, which rented space on the 13th and 14th floors of the North Tower, is providing customer service support to the North American market from offices in Mexico City, São Paulo, London and Luxembourg, while the group takes the necessary steps to be operational again from New York.

Fiduciary Trust International

The group, which occupied five floors in the South Tower of the World Trade Center, has accounted for 527 employees, including CEO Anne Tatlock and President Bill Yun. However, 123 employees are still missing.

All Fiduciary portfolio records have been transferred through Fiduciary’s record keeper, Federated, to parent company Franklin Resources.

New York Society of Security Analysts

The 19 members of the New York Society of Security analysts, which tries to advance the professional competence of investment professionals, made it out of the world Trade Center, where the non profit organization has offices on the 44th floor.

CFTC

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which occupied the 37th floor of the North Tower, has accounted for all its employees, who were evacuated shortly after the first plane hit.

Although the agency’s offices were completely destroyed, its operations will continue uninterrupted since the New York office’s surveillance systems are backed up at the agencies offices in both Washington DC and Chicago.

The group is hoping that one of the exchanges may be able to accommodate its New York market surveillance operations.

TradeWeb

TradeWeb LLC reported that all of its employees in the World Trade Center have been accounted for and are safe.

TradeWeb, whose business activities are being supported by its London office, expects to restore trading of US-based products with all of its customers within the next few weeks. All of the company’s software, databases and office records in New York were safely stored offsite.

Reuters

Roughly 300 Reuters employees, were working in the World Trade Center at the time of the disaster and the group is trying to locate a small number that still remain unaccounted for while trying to ensure business continuity.

The group operated a data distribution facility in the buildings, the services of which are being migrated to other Reuters data distribution facilities.

The company will make available without charge a cross-market package of real-time news and financial information via its web site. A password will be provided to any institution that contacts Reuters at 800-435-0101.

Bridge Information Systems

In addition to offices in 3 World Financial Center, Bridge also rented space in one of the WTC Towers. All employees are accounted for and safe.


 

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