HSBC to invest further in China amid row over support for Hong Kong law
HSBC has announced plans to make new investments in its wealth management and insurance operations in mainland China, after coming under fire for backing the controversial new security law in Hong Kong.
The UK-based lender has been criticised by investors and politicians over its support for the new National Security Law in Hong Kong, which critics say undermines freedoms in the city.
HSBC said today that it will establish a financial technology company in mainland China, and that its life insurance joint venture in the country will hire new staff to provide non-branch based wealth management services to customers in Shanghai and Guangzhou.
The Asia-focused lender hopes to be the top wealth manager in the continent in the medium to long term, Greg Hingston, the bank’s regional head of wealth and personal banking said earlier this year.
China’s parliament adopted the security law earlier this week following months of protests in the city triggered by fears Beijing was the stifling freedoms guaranteed by a “one country, two systems” formula agreed when Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
Foreign secretary Dominic Raab has criticised HSBC and other British banks over their backing of the new law.
“I’ve been very clear in relation with HSBC and… all of the banks: the rights and the freedoms and our responsibilities in this country to the people of Hong Kong should not be sacrificed on the altar of bankers’ bonuses,” Raab told parliament on Wednesday.