Financial support for Barclay flood victims

In response to the recent flooding in Cumbria and other areas of the UK, Barclays Local Business is developing a financial support package for all business banking customers affected by the rising waters, states Banking Times.

The move is aimed at allowing firms time to recover from the immediate impact of the flooding by, for example, allowing repayment holidays on existing and new loans, and extending overdraft facilities. The scheme will also provide bridging finance for those waiting on the settlement of insurance claims.

Barclays' MD of local business banking, Steve Cooper, says: “Events such as these can have a devastating effect on business continuity and at Barclays we are committed to helping our customers through these difficult times.”

The majority of employees at approximately three out of four organisations could not work remotely if they had to, according to a new survey, says Security Management.

The survey, commissioned by Cisco and conducted by InsightExpress, validates concerns that US organisations, both public and private, could not continue operating if major business interruptions occurred, such as severe weather, mass illness, major road closings, or public transit strikes.

Only about one in four IT professionals said 50% of their workforce could currently work remotely. When companies do provide remote access, they generally do so through company-owned laptops, followed by smartphones.

In-house lawyers at large firms are concerned that they will be unable to find relevant data in the case of litigation, according to a survey from KPMG, reports Computing.co.uk.

Half of respondents admit to being concerned about the legal department's ability to find data, and nearly two in five respondents admit it would be difficult to retrieve relevant data in the event of a regulatory investigation or major litigation.

Fewer than one in five are aware of the existence of policies for collecting and processing data, while a quarter are rarely or never consulted about the adoption of new technologies for dealing with electronic evidence, the report found.