Strategy
HSBC Senior Figure Raps UK Government For China Stance – Media

The story highlights how HSBC, which earns a large chunk of its revenues in Asia, has a delicate balance to strike over how its senior figures comment on East-West controversies, such as trade, privacy and individual rights.
The head of public affairs at UK/Hong Kong-listed HSBC has reportedly apologised
after accusing the UK government of being "weak" for complying
with US demands to reduce business dealings with China.
A report by the BBC yesterday quoted an HSBC
spokesperson saying that Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles made the
comments "at a private roundtable discussion and shared his
personal views."
"I was speaking at a private event under Chatham House Rules and
my personal comments do not reflect the views of HSBC or the
China British Business Council. I apologise for any offence
caused," Sir Sherard, who is also chairman of the China-Britain
Business Council lobby group said in a statement provided to the
BBC by HSBC.
Sir Sherard told a closed-door meeting that Britain often bowed
to calls by the US and should look after the UK's own interests,
rather than blindly following Washington's lead,
Bloomberg first reported, citing unnamed sources.
The controversy shines a light on the balance that HSBC must
strike. Although it is based in the UK, it earns more than 80 per
cent of its profits outside the UK, a large proportion of which
comes from Asia. In 2020, the bank, along with fellow UK-listed
lender Standard Chartered, publicly supported Beijing’s national
security law for Hong Kong. Western lawmakers have accused HSBC
of declining applications from Hong Kong residents who want to
emigrate to access their savings.
The controversy is an example of how banks’ treatment of clients
is being affected by political and other non-banking objectives.
The recent "debanking" controversy at Coutts/NatWest, for
example, has shone a light on how far such behaviour should be
allowed to go.
Banks are also caught in the crossfire between the West and
China’s disputes over trade.