One of the largest container ships in the world has been partially refloated after it ran aground in the Suez canal, causing a huge jam of vessels at either end of the vital international trade artery.

The very rapid adoption of cloud is exposing organisations to increased risks as they generally exercise an overabundance of trust and a scarcity of caution.

Read this very informative paper by TrustedImpact and AISA on how you can better manage your information that is held by your cloud provider.

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On February 15, a massive and unseasonal storm with frigid temperatures spiked the demand for power and outpaced the supply, severing power to 26 million Texans. Unpredictable weather patterns present risks for business owners, but also create an opportunity to improve their risk mitigation strategies to address future uncertainties.

Power outages are not caused by storms alone. Heat waves, hurricanes and wildfires can also create power outages—and outages are more common than business leaders may think. S&C’s 2018 Commercial and Industrial Power Reliability Report found that one in four businesses experience at least one power outage per month.

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This document is a guide on business continuity planning for enterprises, especially for the small and medium sized enterprises in Singapore, to help them deal with the COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) outbreak in China.

APRA

• APRA has suspended the majority of its planned policy and supervision initiatives and priorities in response to COVID-19. This response is intended to support APRA-regulated entities to maintain their operations.
• APRA has also suspended public consultations on revisions to the prudential framework until 30 September 2020 (presumably this will include CPS 511 Remuneration). It is unclear yet how this will affect the timeline for FAR implementation (if at all).
• APRA requires ADIs to advise of the reporting treatment for COVID-19 loans and publicly disclose the nature and terms of any repayment deferrals and the volume of COVID-19 loans. Banks have offered COVID-19 loans to affected small business and home loan customers which provides them with an option to defer their repayment for up to six months.
• APRA noted that COVID-19 loans will not be regarded as restructured and the repayment deferral period will not be treated as a period of arrears. APRA confirmed that the Coronavirus SME Guarantee Scheme (see below) will be an eligible guarantee by the government for risk-weighting purposes.

COFR

• COFR noted it is holding regular meetings to ensure coordinated regulatory response to COVID-19 to support credit flow e.g. noting that RBA has announced measures to provide liquidity to financial markets; APRA has announced temporary changes to its expectations on bank capital ratios;ASIC has introduced measures to ensure equity market participants' manage transaction volumes; and APRA and ASIC have reprioritised their regulatory work to minimise the regulatory burden upon institutions.

ASIC

• ASIC will focus its regulatory efforts on challenges crated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Until at least 30 September 2020, the other matters that ASIC will afford priority are where there is the risk of significant consumer harm, serious breaches of the law, risks to market integrity and time-critical matters.
• ASIC has suspended near-term activities which are not time-critical (such as consultation, regulatory reports and reviews).
• ASIC will work with financial institutions to further accelerate the payment of outstanding remediation to customers. It will also maintain its enforcement activities and continue to investigate and take action where the public interest warrants it to do so.
• ASIC will also take account of the circumstances in which lenders, acting reasonably, are currently operating when administering the law.

Government

• The Government will establish the Coronavirus SME Guarantee Scheme. Under the Scheme, the Government will guarantee 50 per cent of new loans by eligible lenders to SMEs. This will result in the Government guaranteeing up to $20 billion to support $40 billion in SME loans.

Read more from the Government

Read more from ASIC

Interesting simulations showing how social distancing measures will affect the spread of the virus and "flatten the curve".

In the last decade, a number of organizations have been rocked by unforeseen supply-chain vulnerabilities and disruptions, leading to recalls costing hundreds of millions of dollars in industries ranging from pharmaceuticals and consumer goods to electronics and automotive. And multiple government organizations and private businesses have struggled with cybersecurity breaches, losing critical intellectual property due to failures in the supplier ecosystem.

The inescapable fact is we’ve become too accustomed to the idea of risk without considering the downsides, because we believe everything will work out just fine. The irony of a Hollywood industry that falls back on low-risk sequels while promoting storylines where protagonists shoot for the moon and never miss should perhaps be questioned a little more closely.

Australian Department of Health web site that deals with the COVID-19 outbreak. Provides daily statistics, recommendations and advice.

Dr. Jim Kennedy provides a detailed checklist of items that organizations need to consider to sense-check existing pandemic plans, or to inform planning processes which may be underway.

Planning

• Develop or revise your crisis management plan so that considerations about a pandemic are immediately made.
• Develop a plan for an alternative workforce in the event that a large portion of the usual workforce is impacted by a pandemic. Estimates are for potential absenteeism rates are high and could range from 10 to 25 percent, with larger rates in metropolitan areas.
• Plan on taking special precautions to assess the health of the workforce and potentially plan to turn back infected workers who report for work.
• Plan on how to deal with the emotional impact of such events as death and potential of death on the individual’s family as well as the workforce in general.
• Companies should plan for reduced production or service delivery based on reductions of customer demand, labour force, raw material supply or energy resources needed for operations.
• Companies should entertain plans to work cooperatively with other companies to maintain critical business services and ventures in the event that this is necessary.
• Develop contingency plans for raw material and supply stockpiling as these resources may be impacted by a pandemic, especially those that are imported or rely on imported raw materials for their production.

Policy revision

Immediately consider changes to policies that:

• Define absenteeism. (Continuity Matters Addition: Particularly in the context where parents are forced to stay home to look after school aged children that normally attend a school that has been shut down.)
• (Continuity Matters Addition– Address payments to casual or contract staff that are unable to work because of instructions from Governments or their employer.)
• Encourage teleworking or telecommuting.
• Define travel by staff (attempt to use teleconference and videoconferencing wherever possible) (Continuity Matters Addition: Will your organisation require staff to isolate if they returned from holidays?)
• Allow flexible work hours and alternate workplaces.

Use of technology

Consider:

• Use of tele or videoconferencing instead of face-to-face meetings.
• Increasing capacity of remote access facilities.
• Increasing trunk capacity of telephone systems to accommodate increase use of teleconferencing and telephone meetings. Increasing the capacity of Internet connectivity.
• Improved information security protection due to increased technology use.
• Increased use of VoIP or cellular phones to allow for management, sales and service colleagues to be accessible wherever they are located.

Workforce (changing the way you do business)

• Develop and deliver internal communications instructing the workforce on dealing with proper reactions to a pandemic.
• Hospitals and healthcare facilities will be severely overwhelmed and probably have insufficient resources to treat patient load, the company should be prepared to offer internal medical assistance to its workers or others in the event of a pandemic. This includes stocking of face masks and anti-bacterial and anti-viral hand washing liquids in restrooms.
• Review insurance coverage specifically reviewing coverage in regard to the impact of a pandemic on business operations and employee health.
• In the event of food, medicine, and other shortages company should be prepared to provide aid to both to employees and to customers.
• Identify and train back-up staff for key positions in the event that key personnel are impacted by a pandemic.
• Consider in-house day care facilities.

Raw material supply

• Plan on the assumption that shortages will take place.
• Make sure that if raw materials are unavailable for some reason related to a pandemic, there are sufficient surge capacities to allow for continued production.
• Make sure that alternative sources are identified for critical domestic and imported raw materials?
• Make sure that adequate maintenance and repair supplies are obtained, as lead times to acquire such materials could be severely impacted by the pandemic.

Transportation services

• A pandemic will cause restrictions in the movement of raw materials and products, or shortages of fuel may occur; make sure, therefore, that contingency plans are in place to provide adequate movement of product to sustain business operations.
• Make sure that waste management systems are designed for surge capacities in the event that movement and processing of wastes is disrupted.
• Plan for alternate transportation sources.
• Plan for providing transportation for critical workers to and from work locations.

Communications

• Prepare for and communicate the communication channels that the company will utilize to keep employees, customers, and suppliers informed as to company activities during the pandemic.
• Develop pre-planned media statements for use when needed.
• Have contingency statements prepared for delivery to the workforce. 
• Early communications should be made to suppliers and customers to set expectations. 
• Alternate communications channels need to be developed in case normal communication channels become unreliable or overloaded.

Customers

• Anticipate what customers will expect in terms of product or service demand, and delivery during the pandemic.
• Determine what product or services are likely to be impacted the greatest by the pandemic.
• Develop a prioritization for product and service delivery for customers if production or service delivery is adversely impacted.
• Communicate any changes to lead times for notification to the customer if the capability to provide the goods or services significantly reduces.

Go to the Continuity Central website

Here's a curated list of suggestions to help with COVID-19 messaging in your organisation.

For employers:

• On a daily basis, clean surfaces that people touch.
• Provide ample supply of alcohol wipes and hand sanitisers in the office.
• If your office receives visitors, find a way to inquire whether they have possibly been exposed to COVID-19.
• Provide access to a Help Line for staff that are feeling anxious or want to report feeling unwell.
• Assure contractors and casual staff that they will be paid normally if they work from home (you don’t want them to turn up to work sick because they cannot afford the loss of income).
• The World Health Organisation has produced a very useful document for the workplace: https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/getting-workplace-ready-for-covid-19.pdf?sfvrsn=359a81e7_6
• This is a useful Australian site: https://virologydownunder.com/so-you-think-youve-about-to-be-in-a-pandemic/

Instruct staff:

• To not touch their face with their hands.
• Wash their hands regularly and aggressively with soap and cold water.
• To avoid physical contact.
• To clean any shared desks, phones, keyboard and mouse with alcohol wipes.
• If you have been informed that you have been around someone who may have been infected, inform your manager Staff should stay home if they feel unwell.
• If they have flu-like symptoms, they should get tested for COVID-19 and report to their manager if they test positive.

For Travellers:

• Check SmartTraveller prior to travel, regardless of whether it is for business or personal travel – countries listed as DO NOT TRAVEL may impact your insurance.
• Employer to clearly identify which countries are subject to travel bans.
• Some staff may feel uncomfortable travelling anywhere overseas.
• Inform your Manager if you intend to travel for personal reasons.
• Travellers returning from overseas, may have to self-isolate on their return.

Here are some posters from WHO and others that can be printed and used around the office.

The handshake alternative

How to cough and sneeze

Hand washing best practice

Hand rubbing best practice

Singapore — Saudi Arabia's decision to cut its crude oil prices sharply over the weekend has added pressure on other Middle East producers to follow suit or risk losing market share, setting the stage for a price war in the region, market participants said Monday.

Saudi Arabia, over the weekend, announced deep cuts in the price of its oil for customers globally after falling out with Russia on further production cuts to support prices. The price cuts were deepest for Europe -- a move that's widely seen as a direct challenge to Russia -- one of the region's biggest oil supplier.

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Reuters reported that the communique issued at the end of the meetings in the oil-rich Gulf state would be the first to include references to climate change since the foundation in 1999 of the group of 19 leading industrial nations and the EU.