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Agencies based in Washington were mostly closed in anticipation of the storm, but officials said where possible support for banks and examiners would be made available.
October 29 -
Hurricane Sandy's much-anticipated arrival has cast a shadow over the week's bond calendar and could cause several issuers to announce delays.
October 29 -
Banks in the forecasted path of Hurricane Sandy braced Sunday for the storm, while making plans to help their operations weather it without interruption.
October 28
Banks in the path of Hurricane Sandy continued Monday to calibrate their responses to the storm.
JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Citigroup (C), HSBC (HBC), Wells Fargo (WFC) , Capital One (COF), Bank of America (BAC), along with a number of community banks, closed branches and activated plans to help ensure their operations proceed smoothly as high winds and rain buffeted the Northeast region.
Citigroup said Monday it decided to close all of the bank's branches in New York City, Boston, Connecticut, New Jersey and Delaware for the day after consulting with state and local officials. The company also planned to close branches in the Middle Atlantic states at noon on Monday, bank spokeswoman Shannon Bell said in an email.
The company said Sunday that it would close two of its corporate offices located in New York City's evacuation zone on Monday. Citigroup instructed employees who work in those locations to work from home on Monday and Tuesday, according to a memorandum that the New York company's office of emergency management sent to employees on Sunday.
JPMorgan Chase on Monday opened 400 of its 1,050 branches in the New York metropolitan area until 12:00 p.m., according to bank spokesman Tom Kelly, who said in an email that some branches in Rochester and Syracuse would remain open slightly later in the day.
JPMorgan said Sunday it would waive or credit fees through Wednesday for customers in seven states and the District of Columbia on transactions that result in overdrafts or insufficient funds, according to a press release. The company also said it would suspend late fees on credit cards, mortgage payments and other consumer and business loans for customers in the storm's path, and that it would add staff and extend hours at branches in the hardest hit areas after the storm passes.
The company's corporate offices throughout New York City were expected to be open on Monday, with the exception of 4 New York Plaza in Lower Manhattan, which sits in an evacuation zone, according to spokeswoman Jennifer Zuccarelli.
HSBC said Monday that most of its branches in the New York metropolitan region would be closed for the day, although the bank planned to open some branches in New Jersey, Connecticut, Long Island and Westchester County, N.Y. until noon, bank spokesman Neal McGarity said in an email. McGarity said HSBC is encouraging employees in areas affected by the storm to work from home.
Wells Fargo closed more than 200 branches in the Northeast on Monday while curtailing hours at others in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C., spokeswoman Sara Hawkins said in an email. Hawkins said the bank would decide whether to close additional branches on Monday and Tuesday.
The company tweeted Monday that mortgage customers who incur damage from the disasters could call the bank for assistance.
Capital One Financial announced on Monday that its branches in Maryland, Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C. would be closed for the day after initially planning to open an hour later than usual. The closings followed a decision Sunday by the bank to close roughly 350 branches in New York and New Jersey on Monday. "Capital One Bank will continue to monitor the hurricane's movement and make decisions about future branch closings based on developments," the company said Monday in a news release.
Capital One also said Monday it is prepared to assist customers who face financial challenges related to the storm on a case-by-case basis by waiving fees, reducing annual percentage rates on credit cards and offering other forms of relief, spokeswoman Tatiana Stead wrote in an email.
Bank of America said it would close its offices at the World Financial Center but its other area offices, including its New York headquarters at Bryant Park, will remain open, spokesman Mark Pipitone said in an email Sunday night. Its New York City branches and its Merrill Lynch wealth management offices in the area will be closed on Monday. The second-largest bank will waive fees for most customers who call a branch or come in person to request a waiver, Pipitone said.
"We have a skeleton staff today to handle emergency banking issues" such as wire transfers, said Chris Martin, the chairman, president and chief executive of Provident Financial Services in Jersey City, N.J. Provident, which kept its branches closed on Monday, sent its emergency staff home before noon, he said.
"For disaster recovery, we have our normal protocol of business continuity," Martin said. "The people who run our data centers are staying at the hotel across the street. We are trying to make sure our employees are safe. We have not heard anything from our regulators at this point."
A larger number of banks around Washington elected to stay open, though they were cutting back hours. "All of our offices are opened today, though we just sent out an email to our employees that we will close early at 1 pm and delay opening tomorrow," said Bill Ridenour, the president, chief administrative officer and chief credit officer at John Marshall Bank in Reston, Va. "We did have conversations with other bankers last night and we looked at whether the Federal Reserve was going to be open."
Andy Peters and Rachel Witkowski contributed to this report.
