'Banking Woes Not Linked To Sino-US Tensions'

Executive Council convenor Bernard Chan on Tuesday played down a newspaper report that quoted him as saying Hong Kong officials were finding it increasingly difficult to open bank accounts overseas, amid escalating tensions between China and the United States.

He also told the Financial Times that an unnamed US bank had recently closed his account and gave him his money back.

But Chan later told RTHK that this wasn’t a problem that is unique to Hong Kong officials.

Asked whether the rise in Sino-US tensions had anything to do with the closure of his account, he replied, “No, not at all.”

The executive councillor also noted that his account had been closed before Beijing announced that it would be imposing a new national security law on Hong Kong – which ultimately prompted Washington to pass a law paving the way for sanctions against officials deemed to have worked to erode the SAR’s high degree of autonomy.

“I know everyone’s talking about the national security law, but we haven’t seen anything yet”, Chan said when asked about the possible impact of the US law on local officials.

He said he was merely telling the Financial Times that officials the world over are having increasing problems with opening bank accounts abroad, with the industry having to comply with costly and time-consuming regulations covering politically exposed persons, or PEP.

“Every politician, every senior official is exposed to PEP requirements, so I am very sure that it’s not just me. It happens to everybody.”

“It doesn’t even matter which colour of the political spectrum that you support”, he added. “We are all subject to the same scrutiny.”

Chan said many banks simply don’t want to deal with these troublesome regulations, and conclude that it’s not worth the time or money to maintain these accounts for PEPs.

The councillor also said he had been misquoted by the newspaper when it cited him as saying that “even HSBC won’t want anything to do with me”.

“I never said that. I think I’ve been misquoted. I don’t think I ever said HSBC”, Chan told RTHK.

“I have a Visa card with HSBC. It’s perfectly fine… I have many bank accounts, and nothing has changed. I have other banks accounts in the US and remains as normal.”