HSBC boss stands by bank’s support for Hong Kong’s freedom of speech crackdown January 26, 2021 HSBC’s chief executive has today stood by statements made by himself and another senior executive in support of Hong Kong’s draconian national security laws that clamp down on freedom of speech. Noel Quinn told MPs today that laws were needed to “stablise” the region last year and said there was no situation in which he [...]
HSBC exec ‘protected’ from alleged sex assault claim through Chinese Communist Party membership January 24, 2021 A parliamentary committee is investigating allegations that an HSBC executive was protected from sexual assault claims by being a member of the ruling Chinese Communist Party. The explosive claims are reportedly contained in a dossier that is being compiled for a Foreign Affairs Committee report into HSBC’s role in Beijing’s freedom of speech crackdown in [...]
Topshop set for discount sale price after Next pulls out of race, analysts say January 22, 2021 The bidders circling Sir Philip Green’s collapsed retail empire Arcadia could bag a good deal to buy Topshop, after Next – a frontrunner to rescue the firm’s “crown jewel” – pulled out of the race. Restructuring experts said Next’s exit from the sales process will put the other bidders in a stronger position, making it [...]
Wall Street slides as ‘Biden bounce’ runs out of steam January 22, 2021 Wall Street fell today as global markets stepped back from the highs they reached on the back of Joe Biden’s new economic stimulus proposal. After once again hitting record highs earlier this week, Wall Street’s main markets once again showed that they were not immune to the malaise felt around the world. The S&P 500, [...]
Excl: Hong Kong activist Nathan Law slams firms ‘colluding’ with Beijing January 21, 2021 Western firms operating in China and Hong Kong are “compromising their integrity,” one of Hong Kong’s leading pro-democracy activists has told City A.M. Nathan Law, one of the leaders of the 2014 Umbrella Movement protests in the territory and now in exile in London, warned that “Beijing manipulates its economic power to conduct and expand [...]
Outgoing Trump official warns of China telecoms threat January 21, 2021 A top official in the departing Trump administration has issued a stark warning over the threat of Chinese espionage to US telecoms networks and internet freedom. Ajit Pai, who stepped down as chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) this week, said Beijing-backed spying was the biggest threat to national security facing regulators over the [...]
US says China has committed genocide against Uyghur Muslims January 20, 2021 The US has declared that China has committed “genocide” and “crimes against humanity” against Uyghur Muslims in the country’s northern province of Xinjiang. US secretary of state Mike Pompeo made the announcement yesterday, less than 24 hours from when Donald Trump’s term as President ends. Joe Biden’s pick for secretary of state Tony Blinken said [...]
Exclusive: City of London Corporation chief says ‘not our place’ to criticise China human rights abuses January 19, 2021 The City of London Corporation’s policy chief has said it is not the powerful local authority’s role to hold China to account for human rights abuses. Catherine McGuinness told City A.M. that she was “really not clear it’s our place” to publicly criticise the Chinese government for human rights abuses against Uyghur Muslims and that [...]
Chinese consumer still ‘cautious’ despite impressive 6.5 per cent Q4 growth January 18, 2021 This morning’s economic numbers showed that the Chinese economy expanded by 6.5 per cent during Q4, with the last three months suggesting that economic activity had more or less returned to normal. Jeffrey Halley, a senior market analyst, Asia Pacific at OANDA, called China’s industrial production rise of 7.3 per cent “impressive.” “Made in [...]
Before the Bell: Europe set for lower open on delayed recovery concerns January 18, 2021 After the early week exuberance of the first week of 2021, investor appetite for risk has taken a little bit of a knock the last week, largely down to concerns that the recovery story being priced in may well be a little premature, Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK, tells City A.M. [...]