Coronavirus crisis management

In 2021, the battle against the pandemic was one of the greatest challenges to confront companies in recent decades.

VP Bank Ltd remained in crisis mode once again in 2021 in order to deal with the ramifications of the coronavirus ­pandemic. Because of the dynamic situation, Group Crisis Management, consisting of members of all relevant specialist divisions, met regularly in order to analyse the situation and lay the groundwork for decisions by the Group Crisis Board (GCB). The GCB, composed of members of Group Executive Management (GEM), bears overall responsibility for all measures having to do with the coronavirus crisis and makes all necessary decisions. Based on this proven approach, the enacted measures were able to be adapted to meet the situation. VP Bank thus succeeded in managing the issues relating to the pandemic in a targeted manner, while protecting employees and clients and ensuring Bank operations.

Group Crisis Management also continuously monitored the pandemic situation at the VP Bank locations and promptly responded to developments. By participating in workplace testing made available by the Liechtenstein government, VP Bank helped to carry out the extensive testing of workers and thus to disrupt potential chains of infection.

The coronavirus crisis gave added impetus to digitisation efforts, resulting in a further expansion of the infrastructure for enabling work from home, provision of online services, and information and communication policy. 

For VP Bank, working from home is a key measure for containing the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, it is an important tool for ensuring and maintaining operational readiness. As of the end of 2021, an average of up to 75 per cent of employees Group-wide worked from home. The experiences with working from home have been altogether positive, and VP Bank has been able to build on a very solid, flexible infrastructure. The COVID-19 pandemic has clearly demonstrated that more working from home and the related increased use of virtual working options works well, and continues to be a useful complement to working at the office. Consequently, VP Bank employees will also make use of the newly acquired flexibility in the future.

Active, personal client advice remained a key element, notwithstanding the coronavirus. For this reason, our operational distribution processes were strengthened with various online solutions. These include video consultation as an additional channel of communication, online events, and the live streaming of corporate and business events. The “VP Bank Experts” events were also held via web conferences in some cases.

VP Bank is continuously testing new digital concepts for improving the client consultation process. Currently, a project team is working on the introduction of video identification to enable accounts and custody accounts to be opened remotely. We plan to implement this option in 2022.

Timely and transparent information and communication is particularly crucial in crisis mode – internally in regard to the Bank’s own employees, but also externally in regard to clients and the public. Using the Group-wide intranet, the GCB regularly provides information about the current coronavirus situation at the company and about necessary protective measures. An e-mail inbox was established expressly for this purpose, and it serves as a central point of contact for all personal questions that employees might have in connection with the coronavirus. Numerous information sheets and notices were prepared on specific topics, such as workplace testing and vaccinations, and they were continuously updated to reflect current developments. At the start of 2021, all employees and managers were offered “Stay connected” sessions. The aim of the online informational events was to provide the best possible support and assistance when working from home so as to draw employees closer together and strengthen colla­borative work.

The measures enacted by VP Bank in 2021 to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic were successful. Processes were optimised, and digital communications and other infrastructure were expanded. We would like to extend our sincere thanks to our employees for their high degree of flexibility and exemplary dedication. VP Bank is well positioned to meet the challenges in 2022.