[LINK] "G20 summit forces Bay Street to move house"

[rfmcdonald]

You have to admit, the irony of this news--the financial district that depends on the proper functioning of the global economy is getting shut down by the meeting of the heads of government responsible for the proper functioning of the global economy--is pretty funny.

The heart of Canadian finance will shift from the gleaming towers of downtown Toronto to a series of non-descript buildings around the city's fringes to keep markets pumping during the G20 summit.

Banks and law firms that negotiate and broker deals are concerned less with G20 protesters causing violence during the June 26-27 leaders' summit, and more with the troubles that crowds and security would cause for employees getting to work.

The people that can are being told to work from home, or to take time off. But for many traders and other key deal makers enmeshed in non-stop global transactions, it's not that simple.

Law firms headquartered downtown are making plans such as booking hotel rooms for crucial “deal teams” who are working on time-sensitive negotiations that can't stop for protests. Financial behemoths such as Royal Bank of Canada and Bank of Montreal are prepared to move hundreds of their traders to secret backup locations scattered around Toronto, where full trading floors are ready and waiting for just such an evacuation.

Alpha Group, which runs the country's second-largest stock market from offices just outside the inner G20 security perimeter, is also shifting to its full business-continuity plan and will move much of its 40-person operation to a backup site about 40 kilometres from downtown, said Chief Executive Officer Jos Schmitt. The facility, at a location Alpha won't disclose, offers all the equipment necessary to continue trading, he said.

“This is an interesting opportunity to test the entire process,” said Mr. Schmitt, who said that Alpha usually runs through its contingency plan once a year anyway.