How HSBC got caught in a geopolitical storm over Hong Kong security law

Bank’s future remains uncertain as it finds itself under pressure from Beijing and Washington

HSBC has been a fixture of the Hong Kong economy for more than a century. However, its origins as a financial bridge between Asia and the west have placed it in the centre of a modern day geopolitical storm. Facing pressure to choose sides as Hong Kong is convulsed by the new security law imposed by Beijing and Donald Trump pursues a trade war with China, HSBC is in danger of finding itself without friends in either direction.

Headquartered in London, but dependent on Hong Kong and China for profits, HSBC has been affected by tensions between Washington and Beijing – and shareholder concern over its controversial acceptance of an authoritarian crackdown in its key market.

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Boost for HSBC as major Chinese investor Ping An increases stake

Move halts slump in share price after money-laundering claims and US-China spat

HSBC has received a much-needed vote of confidence from its largest investor after China’s Ping An Asset Management increased its stake in the embattled bank.

The move comes after the lender was caught in the middle of rising diplomatic tensions between Washington and Beijing and as it attracts fresh criticism for its money-laundering compliance procedures.

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Coronavirus live updates Australia: Daniel Andrews to face Victoria hotel quarantine inquiry – latest news

Victorian premier is the last witness who can shed light on the decision to use private security guards, as border restrictions ease around Australia. Follow live

Peter Dutton then followed up that comment, with this one:

Honestly when we had people who couldn’t go to their dad’s funeral and the same time the Premier was approving people from Hollywood to come in and lay by the pool for two weeks, why wouldn’t we call it out?

It was just unfair and it was unjust. It has now changed.

Peter Dutton was on the Nine Network this morning, talking the Queensland border closures:

I just think we want to work very closely together and we’ve been able to do that, and as the Deputy Commissioner pointed out, the ADF and Queensland Police have had a very longstanding relationship and a necessary one and the ADF personnel are going to provide support at the additional hotels that will be stood up to bring more Australians back from overseas. So that will be a very worthy task for them to be involved in. And already they’ve been involved in providing support to the Queensland Police at hotels where people are quarantining. So I think it was obvious yesterday that Dr Steven Miles, who really just picks a fight every day on this issue, I think back-tracked pretty quickly when he realised what he said was actually factually incorrect. And I think the Premier’s pulled him back into line.

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Leaks show Chelsea owner Abramovich funded Israeli settler group

Russian oligarch’s firms donated £74m to Elad, who are accused of trying to seize Palestinian neighbourhoods

Companies controlled by Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich donated tens of millions of pounds to a highly controversial Israeli settler group accused of displacing Palestinian families from Jerusalem, according to leaked documents seen by BBC News Arabic.

The billionaire Russian oligarch, who was granted Israeli citizenship in 2018, has been an avid philanthropist in Israel, donating huge sums to research and development projects and investing in local firms.

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Leak reveals $2tn of possibly corrupt US financial activity

Among those named in reports is Paul Manafort, former political strategist for Donald Trump

Thousands of documents detailing $2 trillion (£1.55tn) of potentially corrupt transactions that were washed through the US financial system have been leaked to an international group of investigative journalists.

The leak focuses on more than 2,000 suspicious activity reports (SARs) filed with the US government’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

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European banks urged to stop funding oil trade in Amazon

Indigenous people in headwaters region say financing harms communities and ecosystems

Indigenous people living at the headwaters of the Amazon have called on European banks to stop financing oil development in the region, as it poses a threat to them and damages a fragile ecosystem, after a new report found $10bn in previously undisclosed funding for oil in the region.

The headwaters of the Amazon in Ecuador and Peru are home to more than 500,000 indigenous people, including some who choose to live in voluntary isolation. The area, covering about 30m hectares (74m acres), hosts a diverse rainforest ecosystem, but it is threatened by the expansion of oil drilling.

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‘Egregious’ distancing violations at Hamptons charity concert – Cuomo

New York governor says event featuring Goldman Sachs CEO and Chainsmokers breached Covid-19 rules

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  • New York health authorities are to investigate a charity concert in the Hamptons, which included performances by the Goldman Sachs chief David Solomon and DJ duo the Chainsmokers, over “egregious” social distancing violations.

    The drive-in event, Safe & Sound, had space for about 600 cars and was held in Southampton village on Saturday. It was the first in a series of such concerts planned for the US, according to the organisers’ website.

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    Morgan Stanley: ex-employees seek contract release to allege racial discrimination

    Former workers have ‘important’ stories to tell and ‘feel a heightened sense of obligation to come forward’, lawyer says

    At least six former employees are asking Morgan Stanley to release them from confidentiality agreements so they can tell their stories of alleged racial discrimination at the investment bank.

    Related: Mike Pompeo attacks WHO in private meeting during UK visit

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    Australian car buyers launch class action against Westpac over alleged secret dealer commissions

    Hundreds of thousands of buyers allegedly paid as much as three times the normal bank interest rate when arranging finance through a car dealer

    Law firm Maurice Blackburn has launched a class action lawsuit against Westpac on behalf of hundreds of thousands of car buyers who were sold vehicle loans under a deal that allegedly allowed dealers to secretly pocket vast commission payments.

    Dealers were able to maximise commissions Westpac and its subsidiary, St George, paid them for selling the loans by charging some customers as much as three times the bank’s going interest rate, it is claimed.

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    Amanda Staveley in tears as Barclays lawyer accuses her of ‘hustle’

    Businesswoman is seeking £1.5bn from bank in high court action over £2bn Qatari loan

    A businesswoman embroiled in a £1.5bn high court battle with Barclays broke down in tears after bank bosses accused her of engaging in a “hustle”.

    Amanda Staveley has made complaints about bank bosses’ behaviour when negotiating investment deals during the 2008 financial crisis.

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    Barclays, HSBC and Lloyds among UK banks that had links to slavery

    Many bank directors received compensation after slavery was made illegal in 1833

    The slave trade was abolished in the British Empire in 1807 but it was not until 1833 that the Slavery Abolition Act finally banned the ownership of other human beings. However, 46,000 slave owners continued to benefit financially as the subsequent Slave Compensation Act provided £20m in payments – a sum worth billions in 2020 terms. Despite the name of the act, the former slaves were not compensated.

    University College London’s Legacies of British Slave Ownership project shows that 10% to 20% of Britain’s wealthy can be identified as having had significant links to slavery. The amount of money borrowed to pay off slave owners was so large that the government only repaid it fully in 2015. Companies with links to slavery in their past include:

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    South African police make arrests over notorious bank corruption scandal

    VBS Mutual collapsed in 2018 with £100m of debts allegedly looted in ‘pattern of racketeering’

    A number of people have been arrested by police investigating one of South Africa’s most notorious corruption scandals, the looting and collapse of VBS Mutual Bank.

    VBS, which held the savings of many disadvantaged people and local municipalities, collapsed with more than £100m in debts in 2018. Much of the money had been siphoned into private bank accounts and some spent on property or luxury cars, investigators found.

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    UK Finance boss resigns as Amanda Staveley high court case continues

    Ex-Barclays executive Stephen Jones says he apologised over alleged sexist remarks referred to in court documents

    The boss of the banking lobby group UK Finance has resigned just weeks before his alleged sexist remarks about the financier Amanda Staveley are due to be revealed in the high court.

    Stephen Jones, a senior Barclays executive during the financial crisis who became the first chief executive of UK Finance in 2017, said he had also apologised to Staveley and the body’s staff about the comments, which were made as the bank scrambled to save itself from nationalisation in 2008.

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    Children of former Azeri security chief acquired luxury UK properties

    Investigation into hacked bank files reveals £100m business empire owned by family of former Azerbaijan minister Eldar Mahmudov

     A string of luxury properties, including a £17m home near Harrods, were acquired by the children of Azerbaijan’s former security chief, an investigation has revealed.

    Eldar Mahmudov was dismissed as national security minister by a presidential order in 2015. No official explanation was given for his removal.

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    Westpac admits it broke law over customers’ transactions allegedly linked to child exploitation

    Bank files its defence to an Austrac lawsuit that accuses it of more than 23m breaches of anti-money laundering laws

    Westpac has admitted to breaking the law by failing to monitor whether a dozen customers were making transactions consistent with child exploitation.

    The admission is contained in Westpac’s defence to a lawsuit brought by Australia’s financial intelligence agency, Austrac, in which the bank is accused of more than 23m breaches of anti-money laundering laws.

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    Coronavirus bank loans: what’s on offer for Australian home owners and small business

    Here’s how the banks are doing their bit to help while businesses are closed and people are out of work due to Covid-19

    All the banks are offering a similar menu of relief for retail and business customers, although details of what’s available differ between institutions.

    What’s set out below is as up-to-date as possible, but what’s on offer changes frequently and you should always check with your bank before making any financial decisions.

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    Former London bankers convicted after Germany’s ‘greatest tax robbery’

    First case of its kind sheds light on complex fraud known as cum-ex trading

    Two former London bankers were handed suspended jail terms and one a €14m fine for tax fraud in a landmark trial that is likely to unleash dozens of similar cases across Germany.

    The ruling is the first criminal conviction for what the judge, Roland Zickler, called “a collective case of thievery from state coffers”.

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    ECB U-turn shows it fears coronavirus could destroy eurozone project

    Bank now realises Europe will sustain grievous economic damage from Covid-19

    Weak. Clumsy. Behind the curve. The European Central Bank took stick for its initial response to the Covid-19 pandemic – and rightly so.

    Those accusations can no longer be levied after the ECB used an emergency meeting to launch a gigantic new package of quantitative easing (QE) – the electronic money creation device that has become a key tool for central banks since the financial crisis of 2008.

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    Peacetime constraints ditched in the war for economic survival | Larry Elliott

    The Covid-19 outbreak is forcing politicians and central bankers to set aside ideology and orthodoxy to prevent a global collapse

    It is as if the lights have been switched off. The global economy has been plunged into darkness as countries hunker down in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

    Most recessions develop gradually over time. When the last one started in 2008 it took the Bank of England six months to spot it. This time it is different. Then it was a financial virus, this time it is the real thing. Commentators often say the economy is hitting the wall or is falling off a cliff on the weakest of evidence. Today the cliches are horrifyingly true.

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    Study: global banks ‘failing miserably’ on climate crisis by funneling trillions into fossil fuels

    Analysis of 35 leading investment banks shows financing of more than $2.66tn for fossil fuel industries since the Paris agreement

    The world’s largest investment banks have funnelled more than £2.2tn ($2.66tn) into fossil fuels since the Paris agreement, new figures show, prompting warnings they are failing to respond to the climate crisis.

    The US bank JP Morgan Chase, whose economists warned that the climate crisis threatens the survival of humanity last month, has been the largest financier of fossil fuels in the four years since the agreement, providing over £220bn of financial services to extract oil, gas and coal.

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