British banks, namely HSBC Holdings PLC and Standard Chartered PLC, are ‘complicit’ in China’s ‘gross human rights abuses of Hongkongers’ by refusing them access to pensions after they fled to the UK, lawmakers concluded Wednesday.
An inquiry by Britain’s All-Party Parliamentary Group showed ‘many Hongkongers have been denied access to their pensions and personal finances, meaning that they are unable to create new and safe lives for themselves’.
The report specifically identified Asia-focused banks HSBC and Standard Chartered in the report compiled by cross-party lawmakers.
Under the British National Overseas visa system, the UK has handed permanent residency to more than 100,000 of Hong Kong residents who have fled China’s crackdown in the former British colony.
‘On top of brutalising protesters and political dissidents within Hong Kong itself, the Chinese Communist Party also seeks to financially isolate those who’ve turned to the British government for safety and support, denying them the pension and personal savings they have spent their lives paying into,’ the parliamentary report noted.
It added that ‘Hongkongers who have fled to the UK... are being denied what should be their rightful access to their pension fund by British banks including HSBC’.
Alistair Carmichael, co-chair of the APPG for Hong Kong, said the ‘report reveals that UK banks, including HSBC, have been complicit in the repression of the human rights of innocent Hongkongers, including those who have fled the increasingly authoritarian pro-Beijing government of Hong Kong.
‘These banks cannot continue to act with impunity, and the UK government must act to assist those... who are suffering from the impact of these anti-democratic laws.’
HSBC said in a statement that the bank has ‘an enduring commitment to Hong Kong, its people and communities.
‘It is where we were founded nearly 160 years ago. Like all banks, we have to obey the law, and the instructions of the regulators, in every region in which we operate.’
Standard Chartered refused to comment when contacted by AFP.
HSBC shares were up 1.2% at 612.40 pence each in London on Wednesday afternoon. StanChart was up 1.2% at 690.70p.
source: AFP
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