The Foreign Affairs Committee of the British Parliament will hold a meeting on Tuesday (26th) at 2:30 pm UK Time (10:30 pm Hong Kong time), in which HSBC CEO Noel Quinn and Chief Regulatory Officer Colin Bell will attend to be questioned by MPs.
The Foreign Affairs Committee will ask HSBC executives to respond to “some of the recent events in Hong Kong, including the implementation of the National Security Law and the freezing of the accounts of some of those who participated in the demonstrations.
Raymond Hui said on his Facebook page that he had been asked by the British Foreign Affairs Committee to provide details of the freezing of his own and his Family‘s accounts, so that MPs could grasp the details when questioned. He also said that any bank, business or institution that assists the regime in suppressing Hong Kong people’s freedom is bound to pay a heavy price in the international arena, and he will do everything he can to make these institutions face the evil consequences.
Praying Yiu-nin had earlier emailed Johnnie Hui to explain the incident, saying that HSBC had a legal responsibility to take action upon receipt of the police notice, and had no choice in freezing the accounts. Johnnie Hui indicated that he did not accept his explanation.
Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, has said that companies have to be very careful in dealing with political issues, generally speaking, it is better not to get involved in politics, but some companies support regimes whose values are contrary to their own, “British multinational companies are built on a democratic international order, and trading with non-democratic countries may eventually undermine the basis of their success. The Daily Telegraph has quoted Dong Qinda as saying that in freezing the accounts of Xu Zhi Feng and others, Praying Yao Nian intends to “shirk responsibility”.
Bloomberg pointed out that the Hong Kong people tend to accelerate the transfer of funds to overseas
In addition, Bloomberg reported that, due to the deterioration of the political environment, more and more Hong Kong people are considering transferring their funds overseas, and the incident of Raymond Hui has accelerated this trend. The report said that although the Monetary Authority figures show that total bank deposits in Hong Kong grew by more than 7% in the first three quarters of 2020, factors such as the strong Hong Kong dollar and new stock activity continue to attract capital inflows, while the outflow of funds from Hong Kong people’s personal savings is not reflected in the official figures.
However, according to the figures of the Hong Kong Provident Fund Board, the year ended June last year, said the amount of applications for withdrawal of MPF from Hong Kong amounted to HK$5.1 billion, an increase of nearly 20% over the previous year, a new high since at least five years. On the other hand, property prices in the United Kingdom continue to rise. The report cited a Bank of America research report expected that the money involving immigrants flowing into the United Kingdom would reach HK$280 billion in 2021 alone and HK$588.8 billion in the next five years. The report said that the overall capital outflow from Hong Kong will be even larger because places such as Australia and Canada will successively relax their immigration policies for Hong Kong people.
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