Hong Kong bankers pack luxury hotels near offices for typhoon trading

Hong Kong’s bankers and traders hunkered down at home or booked hotels near their offices as Super Typhoon Ragasa descended on the Asian financial hub.

The big international banks, including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and HSBC Holdings, told most employees to work from home before the typhoon unleashed a deluge of rain and sustained winds of up to 195 kilometres (121 miles) per hour early on Wednesday.

Ragasa marked the biggest test yet for a change implemented last year by the Hong Kong stock exchange to keep trading open during severe weather.

The Hong Kong Observatory, the local weather bureau, issued its highest storm warning overnight, known as signal No 10, which indicates hurricane-force winds. The alert remained in place until 1.20pm local time on Wednesday.

With markets open, most firms needed some staff in the office to execute trades and set prices. That created a rush for centrally located hotel rooms as workers sought to avoid commutes from home.

The Mandarin Oriental, across from HSBC’s local head office, was almost fully booked when checked by Bloomberg News on Tuesday. Rooms had also been snapped up at downtown hotels such as the Four Seasons and those connected to the Pacific Place shopping centre on the edge of the central banking district.

Bankers and traders who were needed in the office were greeted with largely empty streets early Wednesday. The city closed government offices and schools. Passenger flights in and out of Hong Kong were suspended for 36 hours from 6pm local time on Tuesday.