Like, we didn't see this coming...Jefferies, Goldman, Morgan Stanley Pledge Haiti Aid

Jefferies, Goldman, Morgan Stanley Pledge Haiti Aid

By Philip Boroff and Katya Kazakina

Jan. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Jefferies Group Inc., Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. each pledged at least $1 million for relief efforts following the Haiti earthquake, among many U.S. and European businesses offering aid to victims.

JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp., Amgen Inc., United Parcel Service Inc. Lowe’s Cos., Wells Fargo & Co., Eli Lilly and Co., Walt Disney Co., Western Union Co., France’s Credit Agricole SA and Britain’s Tesco Plc were among others that announced donations.

Thousands remain trapped beneath collapsed buildings two days after an earthquake pummeled the Haitian capital of Port- au-Prince. More than 3 million people may have been affected by the quake and its aftermath, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said today.

“The combination of extreme poverty on the island and a horrific natural disaster -- it just cried out for help,” Richard B. Handler, chairman and chief executive officer of Jefferies, said in a telephone interview.

Go Daddy Group, a Scottsdale, Arizona, concern that provides Web site design and registration, sent a $500,000 check to Hope for Haiti, a nonprofit organization that supports education and health care in the country.

“What touched us was the hopelessness of the situation and devastation,” said Bob Parsons, the 59-year-old chief executive of Go Daddy. “It’s a section of the world that’s in our hemisphere and it’s been forgotten.”

U.S. $100 Million

President Barack Obama said the U.S. will commit $100 million to relief efforts in Haiti and that the response to the disaster will require “every element of our national capacity.” He ordered agency and department heads to make rescue and relief efforts in Haiti “a top priority.”

Financial firms have been among top business givers so far. Goldman, according to a spokesman, is donating to the American Red Cross for the Haitian Relief and Development Fund, Care, Doctors Without Borders, International Rescue Committee, Save the Children and the United Nations World Food Programme. It will also match employee contributions.

European Companies

Credit Agricole, France’s third-largest bank by market value, said it is committing 1 million euros ($1.45 million) and having its philanthropy arm work with nongovernmental organizations to determine how the money should be spent.

SES World Skies, a division of Luxembourg-based SES SA -- the world’s largest publicly traded satellite operator -- said it is “donating satellite capacity on five of its spacecraft and access to teleport facilities” to help the rescue efforts.

“Satellite networks play a quintessential role in disaster recovery, when speed is” essential, said Rob Bednarek, president and chief executive of SES World Skies.

Tesco, Britain’s largest retailer, pledged 50,000 pounds ($81,600) to a Haiti emergency appeal set up with the Red Cross.

“Our donation will help thousands of families who have survived the earthquake with family kits containing vital items such as blankets, tarpaulins and first aid,” Lucy Neville- Rolfe, an executive director at the company, said in a news release.

The City of London Corporation -- which promotes London’s financial district, and acts as its local authority -- said it would send 25,000 pounds directly to the British Red Cross.

“All of us in the City have been moved by the widespread destruction and loss of life in Haiti,” said Nick Anstee, lord mayor of the City of London.

Jefferies Commissions

Jefferies will donate all net commissions tomorrow, plus volunteered salaries, plus $1 million. In October 2001, it raised $6 million for Sept. 11 relief; $3 million for victims of the Asia tsunami in 2005, and later that year, $2.5 million following Hurricane Katrina.

“Clients pay commissions every time they trade securities,” Handler said. “The hope is that they will trade more than normal tomorrow.”

Following a major disaster, corporations often announce about $1 million immediately, said Melissa Berman, head of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.

“And as the dimensions of the situation get better known they may make additional commitments,” she said.

To contact the writers on this story: Philip Boroff in New York at [email protected]; Katya Kazakina in New York at [email protected].

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