(Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM) is asking thousands of U.S. employees to work from home as it tests a contingency plan for closing domestic offices should the coronavirus spread, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday.
The largest U.S. bank by assets has asked about 10% of staff across its consumer bank to work remotely as part of the plan's resiliency testing, which has been code-named "Project Kennedy", the report said, citing sources familiar with the matter. (https://bloom.bg/39mSUy1)
The bank thinks testing the work-from-home policy on a sampling of employees across businesses at the consumer bank can ensure kinks are worked out before the plan needs to be rolled out broadly in the event of a pandemic, according to the report.
Big U.S. banks have been rolling out contingency plans to respond to the global virus outbreak — requiring some staff to work from home, implementing travel restrictions and talking to regulators about potential stresses.
Last week on Thursday, JPMorgan told employees it was restricting all but essential international work travel due to the continued spread of the virus.
JPMorgan did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.