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Bloomberg
Credit Suisse Group AG scrapped its annual Asia investment conference next month as the spread of the deadly coronavirus shows no sign of abating.
The Zurich-based lender informed investors on Tuesday it will cancel the conference in Hong Kong, its biggest in the region.
“In view of the continued health and safety risks caused by the coronavirus, we have taken the decision to cancel this year’s Asian Investment Conference,†a spokeswoman said in an email.
The decision marks the biggest cancellation in Hong Kong’s financial industry after the outbreak of the virus. The city on Tuesday reported its first confirmed death from the virus, the second fatality outside mainland China, where the number of cases has topped 20,000.Credit Suisse had planned to hold the conference on March 25-27 at the city’s Conrad Hotel.
Separately, the annual Fund Managers’, Asian Bankers’ and Brokers’ Awards set for later this month has also been postponed, said Sean Alexander, who sits on FABBAS’s board of directors.
The decision to delay it to sometime in March came after some attendees chose to remain overseas with Hong Kong schools not reopening until March 3. It has netted more than $10 million for charities including Children’s Surgical Centre in Cambodia and Children’s Medical Foundation in China since 2003.