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Summary
- Around 50 parliamentarians from all over the world have urged the bank to repeal the decision of freezing accounts.
- The political leaders said the bank had compromised on its client’s private property rights and assets without any court order or warrant.
UK’s leading banking and financial services company HSBC Holdings Plc (LON: HSBA) seems to be in a spot of bother as it is being asked to regularise the accounts of a customer linked to pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.
HSBC Chairman Mark Tucker has received a letter from 50 parliamentarians across the world, in which they have urged the bank to unfreeze the accounts linked to Ted Hui, leaders of the Good Neighbour North District church, and other related accounts.
Also read: HSBC to Shut Its Main Branches in Scotland
Twelve British Members of Parliament have signed the letter, including Sir Iain Duncan Smith, former Conservative party leader, along with elected lawmakers from Australia, Canada, Denmark, and Germany have signed the letter. The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) coordinated the letter from the lawmakers across the globe.
Without any court order or warrant, the bank had compromised on its client’s private property rights and assets. This is a clear case of non-compliance to the law and due procedures by the bank, according to the Parliamentarians. The lawmakers demand a full explanation of the action taken by HSBC and asked it to regularise the accounts at the earliest. The non-compliance of due protocols in place could tarnish HSBC's reputation as a socially responsible enterprise and could be detrimental for its brand equity as a global bank.
Amid a wider crackdown by China on pro-democracy activism in Hong Kong, Ted Hui, the former Legislative Council member, along with his family fled to Denmark in December 2020. After which the debit freeze was imposed on his and his family’s accounts.
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On its part, the Footsie-listed bank said that it had to comply with the orders of local administrative authorities and was in no position to challenge them. The bank does not have the right to defy legal instructions coming from administrative authorities.
According to HSBC’s spokesperson, the bank had to freeze those accounts as it had to comply with the law and legal frameworks of Hong Kong. The bank had frozen the accounts for formal investigation based on specific legal instruction issued by Hong Kong police authorities.
The multinational entities are often caught between the geopolitical struggles. The bank has roots in the UK as well as Hong Kong and is finding it difficult to balance between the political environment of the two countries. Previously, HSBC was also criticised by the US authorities for publicly backing the introduction of the national security law in Hong Kong.
Shares in the HSBC Holdings Plc ended marginally lower on Monday, at GBX 390.40.
