Foreshore rescues Bank Austria from Caribbean hurricane devastation

1 October 2004

Facilities at Foreshore Ltd, the Jersey based disaster recovery specialists, recently enabled Bank Austria Cayman Islands Limited to continue in business.

Thanks to its alliance with Foreshore, Bank Austria Cayman Islands was one of the few banks able to continue business quickly following the devastation caused by hurricane Ivan, which rendered wide spread destruction across the island.

Foreshore works with clients and their respected service partners to design a solution that provides safety for mission critical systems by replicating the services they provide in its world-class data centre.

Bank Austria Cayman Islands, which has multi-billion US$ assets, was granted a banking license to operate in Jersey within hours of an application being made to the Jersey Financial Services Commission (JFSC). Three Bank Austria Cayman Islands staff arrived in Jersey a day after the storm commenced, and within 24 hours the bank’s corporate and private banking business was once again operational.

Managing director of Bank Austria Cayman Islands James O’Neill said: "There is nothing we can’t do from Jersey. We have informed customers and given them contact information. The red carpet has been rolled out for us, and we want to thank Chris Evans and his team at Foreshore and the Jersey Financial Services Commission for their assistance."

Chris Evans, managing director of Foreshore, said: "In the face of massive data loss, it is absolutely imperative to restore service and data as quickly and completely as possible. Nearly half of all companies suffering from a catastrophic data loss close their doors forever immediately. More than 90 percent of those who did not have a realistic disaster relief plan close in the following years. The importance of a credible solution has never been more apparent."

Today Foreshore provides international disaster recovery solutions for a number of financial institutions across the globe and local clients in the Channel Islands.