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HSBC closes accounts of Hong Kong opposition party

By Simon Foy

HSBC has shut down the bank accounts of a Hong Kong opposition party as the lender increasingly sides with Beijing on a crackdown in the city state.

The FTSE 100 bank closed three accounts used for receiving political donations by the League of Social Democrats (LSD), one of Hong Kong’s few remaining opposition parties, local

‘All banks regularly review customers’ account activities as part of due diligence requirements’

media reported. The party is one of the last remaining pro-democracy groups in the city state following a brutal authoritarian crackdown by Beijing in recent years.

It comes as HSBC faces growing scrutiny of its activities in China and Hong Kong, where it has been accused by British MPs of complicity in human rights abuses. HSBC supported a Beijing-backed law introduced in 2020 that banned anti-government activity in the former British colony.

At the time, the bank said it “respects and supports all laws that stabilise Hong Kong’s social order”. Since the law was introduced, HSBC has frozen the bank accounts of a raft of activists, including pro-democracy politician Ted Hui, on orders from Hong Kong police.

HSBC first told LSD that its three accounts with the lender would be shut down in February and confirmed the termination last month without giving any reason, according to the group’s vice chairman.

Last year, LSD’s PayPal account was also shut down, with the online payments company citing “excessive risks”. In a letter, first reported by the Hong

Kong Free Press, HSBC said in May: “We acknowledge that this decision may be disappointing for your company, and we apologise for it.” The three bank accounts were mainly used for receiving political donations, LSD said.

A spokesman for HSBC said: “All banks, including HSBC, regularly review customers’ account activities and relationships as part of ongoing customer due diligence requirements.”

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2023-06-03T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-06-03T07:00:00.0000000Z

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Daily Telegraph