A banking summit geared toward reviving Hong Kong’s standing as a world hub for finance following two years of lockdowns has drawn a blended response.
Final week, the Hong Kong CEO John Lee welcomed the bosses of massive western banks, with Goldman CEO David Solomon, Morgan Stanley boss James Gorman, and UBS chairman Colm Kelleher among the many high executives who flew in.
Lee informed an viewers of greater than 200 contributors from 20 international locations that Hong Kong is open for enterprise “We had been, we’re and we’ll stay one of many world’s main monetary facilities,” Lee said. “You’ll be able to take that to the financial institution.”
The funding summit, which additionally co-incided with the Hong Kong rugby sevens match, was designed to place Hong Kong as open for enterprise. The financial institution bosses appeared to offer the information a cautious welcome. “While we’re all very pro-China,” Gorman stated that the the financial institution was “ready for zero-Covid to open up in China and see what’s going to occur.”
Whereas the banks attending the summit made optimistic statements, their actions betrayed a special actuality. Goldman, Morgan Stanley and UBS are among the many western banks slicing headcount in mainland China as they grapple with rising geopolitical tensions amid a collapse in deal volumes. Morgan Stanley is about to chop quite a lot of China-focused bankers as a part of a plan to chop 50 investment banking jobs across Apac, whereas Goldman has laid off round 30 bankers within the area. Credit Suisse bankers in Singapore are fearful that they are going to be expertise harsh cuts.
The funding bankers we spoke to additionally famous the distinction between the effusive welcome prolonged to their bosses and the truth for colleagues travelling to Hong Kong.
“Delegates had been in a position to combine freely in eating places and there didn’t appear to be any restrictions,” stated one. I’m flying to Hong Kong subsequent week and will not be allowed to enter a grocery store, bar or restaurant for 3 days. So it’s a bit early to say that Hong Kong has utterly re-opened. It feels a bit like one rule for them and one other for us.”
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Photograph by Yaroslav Muzychenko on Unsplash