Victims of the Sept. 11 attacks were remembered today by those financial firms and organizations that sustained the greatest losses of life.
The New York Mercantile Exchange and the New York Board of Trade held a joint ceremony to honor those who died in the World Trade Center attacks two years ago. After pausing for the four moments of silence observed throughout New York City, the markets remained closed for an additional 21 minutes in memory of each of the 21 members and former members of the two exchanges who died that day.
The New York Board of Trade's trading facilities, back offices and data center, which were destroyed in the attacks, moved into the New York Mercantile Exchange's building in the World Financial Center on Sept. 2, leasing trading floor and office space. Since the attacks, NYBOT had been working out of its backup facility in Queens.
Cantor Fitzgerald, which lost 658 employees in the WTC attacks, held a private memorial service in New York's Central Park for friends, relatives and colleagues, in what has become an annual event, said Tom Ryan, spokesman. The firm will also donate 100% of its profits today to the Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund, which benefits victims' families, as part of its Charity Day. Established on Sept. 11, 2002, Charity Day raised $4 million for the relief fund in its first year.
The Bond Market Association, in memory of the hundreds of its members who died in the attacks, scrolled their names across its Virtual Market, a high-resolution video screen located in BMA's New York headquarters.
