Employees reportedly expressed dismay that the British lender decided to publicly appease Beijing and declare support for Hong Kong’s national security law.
The fact that HSBC «caved to the political pressure» triggered disappointment amongst some of its workers in Hong Kong, according to a «Bloomberg» report, where the bank houses 22,000 employees.
One Hong Kong-based employee who had worked at the British lender for five years – simply named Wong for anonymity – said questions were being asked by mainland Chinese about personal political positions. Two other employees noted that the decision to express HSBC’s political position publicly was taken by top management on the mainland in response to pressure from Hong Kong’s former chief executive Leung Chun-ying’s recent remarks.
NSL
Hong Kong’s national security law, which has yet to be implemented locally, is already causing ripples in the financial sector and the broader business community. HSBC is not alone in publicly stating its support for the national security law with Standard Chartered, Jardine Matheson and Swire Pacific amongst other entities that have made similar moves.
The report adds that mainland staff, in contrast, expressed satisfaction towards HSBC Asia chief Peter Wong’s public support for the legislation.
It was also noted that Wong is a member of China’s top political advisory body, the CPPCC (Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference) where Leung is currently a vice chairman.
