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Highlights
- HSBC Holding Plc has been sought an explanation for its actions on freezing accounts of Hong Kong activists and placing restrictions on the accounts of US citizens.
- The bank is also facing pressure to cut ties with some of the Russian oil companies due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
One of the largest banking and financial services institutions in the world, HSBC Holdings Plc (LON: HSBA) is once again in the news after influential US lawmakers asked the bank to explain its actions in freezing accounts of Hong Kong activists and placing restrictions on the accounts of US citizens.
The bank has already been facing pressure to cut ties with some of the Russian oil companies due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. HSBC owns equity stakes in the five largest Russian oil and gas companies that include Lukoil, Rosneft, Gazprom, Tatneft, and Novatek.
US lawmakers demand an explanation
A bipartisan group of US lawmakers has asked for an explanation from London-based bank’s chief Noel Quinn for restricting US citizens’ accounts and freezing accounts of Hong Kong activists, civic groups, and independent media. The lawmakers have warned that these moves could lead to severe sanctions under US law for the bank.
The group of six senators and seven members of the House of Representatives from the Congressional-Executive Commissions on China (CECC), led by its chief Senator Jeff Merkley and Representative Jim McGovern, asked in a letter to Quinn to justify the bank’s actions and whether they were done on the behest of the Hong Kong authorities from the People’s Republic of China.
The bank has been asked to explain if the actions taken by it hurt the democratic freedoms in Hong Kong and whether they are in line with the bank’s set procedures and the United Nations’ principles on human rights.
Earlier, HSBC was also questioned by British lawmakers for freezing accounts and its public support in 2020 for a National Security Law imposed by China on Hong Kong.
Reacting to the development, banks’ spokesmen, Matt Ward, has reportedly said that HSBC is working on the issue, and like every bank, they are needed to operate within the law and legal frameworks of all the countries in which they operate.
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Stock Performance
FTSE 100-listed,HSBC Holding Plc (LON: HSBA) has a dual primary listing on the London Stock exchange and Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The bank also has a dual secondary listing on the Bermuda Stock Exchange as well as on the New York Stock Exchange.
HSBC Holdings Plc’s shares were trading at GBX 493.95, down by 0.30%, at 8:05 AM (BST), on 4 March 2022. The market cap of the bank stood at £100,316.52 million, and it has delivered a return of 12.47% to its shareholders over the last one year as of 3 March 2022, while its year-to-date return stands at 8.53%.
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