Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

Hong Kong Banking Giants Defy Dire Predictions Amid Protests

Hong Kong Banking Giants Defy Dire Predictions Amid Protests

HSBC, Standard Chartered earned more from city despite unrest; ‘It would take a huge structural change’ to upend hub’s status

There may be protests, wafts of tear gas and the occasional burning Starbucks along the street, but inside Hong Kong’s biggest financial firms the outlook for business is surprisingly status quo.

That was the takeaway this week as two banking giants in Hong Kong -- HSBC Holdings Plc and Standard Chartered Plc -- posted quarterly results that showed business there held up despite civil unrest. Now, one of the top experts on the financial hub is weighing in with his evaluation: Don’t expect the city to lose any stature among global markets.

“It would take a huge structural change,” for Hong Kong to cede its position as a financial center, K.C. Chan, the city’s former secretary for financial services and the treasury, said in an interview. “That’s not what I see today. The reason Hong Kong’s financial markets are doing so well is because they have been serving China’s economy. Has this changed? No.”

Demonstrations led by pro-democracy activists have indeed disrupted local commerce and discouraged tourism, tipping the city toward a technical recession. Then there are more dire predictions: The unrest could prompt investors to move their wealth to rival hubs such as Singapore or lead major financial firms to rethink their presence in town.

But the votes of confidence by Chan and executives atop major banks in recent days underscored Hong Kong’s unique position as China’s gateway to international markets. The city’s regulatory framework and laws, the argument goes, make it the indispensable venue for companies in the world’s second-largest economy to tap capital from abroad.

That, in turn, has generated wealth in the city, drawing legions of private bankers and money managers to tend it.

“If you have your liquidity here in Hong Kong, you won’t just move your money to Singapore in a flick,” Chan said.

Contingency Plans

Few global companies have tied their fortunes as much to Hong Kong as London-based HSBC. When the firm posted third-quarter results Monday, it described operations in Asia as resilient. Adjusted pretax profit from Hong Kong, the bank noted, climbed 1% in the quarter to $3 billion.

Still, HSBC took a $90 million credit charge because of the dimming outlook for the local economy, where small- and medium-sized businesses in particular are suffering. And on Thursday it lowered its best lending rate in the city for the first time in more than a decade, a move that the lender said should help the local economy and companies.

Some ultra-wealthy clients are drawing contingency plans for parking cash elsewhere, the company said, but very little has actually moved. Across the city, there hasn’t been significant capital outflow, Hong Kong Monetary Authority Chief Executive Eddie Yue added at a briefing on Thursday.

Standard Chartered said it earned more in Hong Kong, too.

“Business is actually continuing to perform pretty well,” Chief Financial Officer Andy Halford told Bloomberg Television on Wednesday, referring to the city. “Maybe not growing quite as much as it’d have done previously, but absolutely still growing.”

Some clients, he acknowledged, have explored whether to set up additional accounts elsewhere. For now, the number of people doing it isn’t large, he said. And even if they shift money, the bank can just serve them from other locations.

To be sure, the situation is much starker for local banks, especially those catering to the residents and small businesses. Declines in home prices, office rents and the retail sector threaten to increase credit costs. Potential capital outflow and the monetary authority’s intervention could squeeze net interest margins.

A stress test performed by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. estimated lenders such as Hang Seng Bank Co. and Bank of East Asia Ltd. could see earnings slump 24% to 45% next year and 39% to 67% in 2021.

Others suggest things will snap back to normal.

“If you look back in history there have ebbs and flows in Hong Kong and it has a proven track record of resiliently coming through difficult situations,” Standard Chartered’s Halford said. “It is a very vibrant economy. It has got a huge reputation. Our hope and our belief is that over a period of time it will plow through this.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
×