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发帖数: 6 | 1 China Banks Act to Comply With Trump Sanctions on Hong Kong
Bloomberg News
August 12, 2020, 2:59 AM EDT Updated on August 12, 2020, 5:05 AM EDT
China’s largest state-run banks operating in Hong Kong are taking tentative
steps to comply with U.S. sanctions imposed on officials in the city,
seeking to safeguard their access to crucial dollar funding and overseas
networks.
Major lenders with operations in the U.S. including Bank of China Ltd.,
China Construction Bank Corp., and China Merchants Bank Co. have turned
cautious on opening new accounts for the 11 sanctioned officials, including
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam, according to people familiar with the
matter. At least one bank has suspended such activity.
At some lenders transactions via the U.S. are banned, while compliance must
now review and sign off on others that would previously have been
immediately processed, the people said.
Foreign lenders like Citigroup Inc. have taken steps to suspend accounts or
are increasing scrutiny of Hong Kong clients.
Such measures underscore the ability of the U.S. to use the greenback’s
dominance in international transactions as a pressure point in the
intensifying standoff with China. China’s state-owned lenders need to
preserve their access to global financial markets, particularly at a time
when Beijing is leaning on them to prop up the economy from the fallout of
the coronavirus.
China’s four largest banks had $1.1 trillion in dollar funding at the end
of 2019, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.
Read more: China Seeks to Calm U.S. Tensions
Representatives at Bank of China and Construction Bank didn’t respond to
requests seeking comments. China Merchants Bank declined to comment. The
Hong Kong government didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
U.S. President Donald Trump last week sanctioned Chinese and Hong Kong
officials including Lam, Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macau
Affairs Office of China’s State Council, and Chris Tang, commissioner of
the city’s police for their role in implementing a security law in Hong
Kong. The officials will have property and assets in the U.S. frozen.
The sanctions forbid banks from doing business with the penalized
individuals or risk penalties that would threaten their access to the U.S.
financial system.
China on Monday retaliated by sanctioning 11 individuals including U.S.
senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, but stopped short of putting any senior
American government officials on its list. Its top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, on
Friday said the door for talks with the U.S. remains open.
It didn’t clarify the potential implications for any financial institutions
that keep doing businesses with those named.
“China’s position on the U.S. sanctions is clear and consistent,” Foreign
Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters in Beijing on Wednesday in
response to a question about the banks’ move to comply. “The U.S.
sanctions are irrational and groundless. They are unanimously opposed and
condemned by all Chinese people, including our residents in Hong Kong.”
Bank of China had the biggest exposure to U.S. dollars among its local peers
, followed by Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., the world’s
largest bank. The lenders have been expanding their presence globally over
the past decade by adding branches, making acquisitions and granting loans
to fund everything from local power plants to toll roads.
Meanwhile, local banks in Hong Kong are concerned as well since they all
have some U.S. dealings such as foreign exchange and settlement, one person
said.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the city’s de facto central bank, sought
to ease concerns on Saturday, saying lenders in the city have no obligation
to follow U.S. sanctions under local law, urging banks to treat customers
fairly in assessing whether to continue to providing services.
Despite the announcement, “banks that have U.S. operations or conduct
dollar businesses may still need to consider their U.S. compliance
obligations,” JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Hong Kong-based analysts led by
Katherine Lei wrote in a note. “Risks for listed China banks are relatively
muted, in our view, as the four China officials on the list may obtain
banking services with local unlisted Chinese banks that do not have dollar
or U.S. businesses.” | g********0
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只有老将的智商才能相信这种fake news |
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