HSBC has a deep relationship with China, and its English name "Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited" shows its close relationship with Hong Kong and Shanghai. The original Chinese name of HSBC was "Hong Kong and Shanghai Credit Union Bank", and it was changed to "The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited" in 188 1. It is said that the word "HSBC" was put forward by Gu Yingchun, a comprador in China, after calculating the good and bad luck of the strokes, which means "abundant exchange". At the beginning of the 20th century, HSBC has become the largest bank in the Far East, and the foreign exchange traded by HSBC often accounts for 60%-70% of Shanghai's foreign exchange market. From the late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China, the Shanghai and Hongkong Bank was the main collection agency for China government to repay foreign debts and indemnities, and it was also the main bank to collect and keep domestic debt funds and customs duties in China on behalf of the State Administration of Taxation. 19 15 The total inventory of gold and silver in all Chinese and foreign financial industries in Shanghai was 80.99 million, of which Huashang Bank and Qianzhuang Bank accounted for 17.3%, the other nine foreign banks accounted for 44.3%, and HSBC alone accounted for 38.4%. From its establishment to War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, Shanghai has been the most important market for HSBC in the world.
1949 after the founding of new China, the branches of HSBC in Chinese mainland were closed one after another, and only the Shanghai branch continued to operate, which is one of the few foreign banks with uninterrupted business in Chinese mainland. The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (China) Limited officially opened on April 2, 2007, and its headquarters is located in Shanghai, China. By 20 14, HSBC China * * has 135 outlets with 29 branches in 29 cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. At present, HSBC has nearly 65,438+070 outlets covering 57 cities, about one third of which are located in Guangdong. It is the only foreign bank with outlets in all prefecture-level cities in Guangdong. At present, HSBC is the largest foreign bank with the largest number of outlets in the Mainland.
However, HSBC, which has deep roots in the China market, is now caught in a geopolitical game with China and the United States, and its cooperation with the United States to suppress Huawei is a focus.
On May 28th this year, the British Columbia High Court ruled that the essence of Meng Wanzhou's case was "fraud". On the morning of July 24th, the court made public the evidence materials of the next trial of Meng Wanzhou's extradition case. Judging from the public evidence, HSBC is suspected of being involved in framing and "manipulating". It provided information about Huawei's business in Iran in exchange for US pardoning HSBC's violations.
A key evidence in the case prosecution record filed by the United States in the Canadian court is that Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Huawei, "concealed" the relationship between Huawei and Hong Kong Star Link Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Hong Kong Star Link" or Skycom) from HSBC, and "misled" HSBC to continue to provide banking services to Huawei, which led HSBC to violate the US sanctions against Iran. This means that Meng Wanzhou constitutes a "fraud" to HSBC. The "only key evidence" in this case is a PPT file handed over to HSBC by Meng Wanzhou, including the full text of PPT and the business email records of HSBC and Huawei. However, HSBC lied at a key point, claiming that it did not know the relationship between Huawei and Skycom. According to the financial report of Hong Kong Xingtong 2009/20 10 sent by Huawei to HSBC, HSBC is fully aware of Skycom's business in Iran. HSBC claims that only "junior" employees know about the relationship between Huawei and Hongkong Xingtong, but these "junior" employees did not pass the relevant information to "senior" managers, which led HSBC executives to rely on PPT provided by Meng Wanzhou to judge risks.
This statement obviously doesn't hold water. 201212 in February, HSBC signed a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. department of justice for violating U.S. sanctions against Iran. HSBC assured the U.S. Department of Justice that it would inspect and clean up the customers of the whole group. In this process, HSBC still failed to identify the relationship between Huawei and Hong Kong Star Link, which is obviously illogical. 20 13 February, Hong Kong Xingtong closed its HSBC account, and the cooperation between Huawei and HSBC in Iran ended here. But after that, HSBC still asked to "communicate" with Huawei. August 20 13, Meng Wanzhou was invited to meet with the senior management of HSBC to explain Huawei's business in Iran. The PPT provided by HSBC was handed over to the United States and became the key evidence for the United States to attack Huawei.
An important reason for HSBC to cooperate with the United States in cracking down on Huawei is its interests-by presenting Meng Wanzhou's evidence in exchange for the United States' pardon for HSBC. In 20 12, the U.S. government accused HSBC of serious money laundering and financing international terrorism, and HSBC paid a fine of19.2 billion dollars, and reached a five-year (20 12-20 17) deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice. HSBC agrees to "cooperate with any investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice", and the U.S. Department of Justice has the right to withdraw the agreement and file criminal charges against HSBC if it fails to fulfill the relevant requirements.
2065438+September 2006, the U.S. Department of Justice discussed whether to cancel the suspension of prosecution agreement and whether to sue HSBC for criminal charges. At the end of the same year, HSBC began to secretly investigate Huawei accounts. According to Reuters's report at that time, HSBC "cooperated" in submitting the investigation results of Huawei to the United States, "coincidentally" just before the agreement between HSBC and the US Department of Justice expired. Reuters's report clearly pointed out that HSBC began to "cooperate" with the investigation initiated by the US Department of Justice on Huawei from the end of 20 16 to 20 17, in exchange for the US Department of Justice's forgiveness for HSBC, because HSBC itself was involved in other cases that violated the US sanctions ban.
According to public information, from February 2065438 to July 2007, HSBC actively cooperated with the US investigation of Huawei, made at least four statements to the US Department of Justice, and thousands of people were interviewed by the US Department of Justice. 201Feb. 7, 17, although the compliance officer of the U.S. Department of Justice thought that "HSBC's compliance still has great defects", the U.S. prosecutor unexpectedly withdrew all criminal charges against HSBC and ended the supervision of HSBC. From the timeline and event line, from the meeting with Meng Wanzhou on October 3rd, 20 16, to the internal investigation of Huawei on August 20th17, until the cooperation with Huawei was terminated ... HSBC kept Huawei as a big customer through a series of operations, and provided evidence of Huawei to the United States in exchange for withdrawing the charges against it.
From the general business logic, a global financial institution that pursues interests should not subjectively "trap" its big customers. However, the reality of HSBC is that because a series of violations were caught by the US government, it had to cooperate with the US Department of Justice to investigate Huawei in exchange for the US government's "letting HSBC go". From the standpoint of the United States, HSBC needs to play a "tainted witness". As we all know, the U.S. government's global investigation and suppression of Huawei is no longer a commercial interest or a violation of sanctions, but a special "battle" for the United States to adjust its China strategy and contain China for a long time. In other words, the suppression of Huawei is part of the geopolitical action of the United States against China, and HSBC has been deeply involved.
In the face of China media accusing it of "framing" Huawei, HSBC issued a statement on its WeChat account in China, saying that it did not participate in the decision of the US Department of Justice to investigate Huawei. "The background of the Huawei incident clearly shows that the US investigation into Huawei was not initiated by HSBC" and "HSBC has no malice towards Huawei and has not framed Huawei". The statement also stated, "At the request of the US Department of Justice, HSBC only provided factual information. HSBC will not' fabricate' evidence or' conceal' facts, nor will it distort facts or hurt any customers for its own benefit. "
However, HSBC's statement evaded this point. The US Department of Justice launched an investigation into Huawei, which is a well-known fact and does not need HSBC's explanation. The role, motivation and interest exchange of HSBC in this matter are the key points. The active cooperation of HSBC undoubtedly played a key supporting role for the US Department of Justice to launch an action against Huawei, and used this as an excuse to arrest Meng Wanzhou by Canadian hands.
At this sensitive time, Shenzhen Banking Insurance Regulatory Bureau issued a reply on July 24th, agreeing that HSBC (China) Co., Ltd. would close Shenzhen Longgang Sub-branch (coincidentally, Huawei's headquarters is also in Longgang). The market is highly concerned about the future fate of HSBC. How will the market in China be affected? In this regard, the researchers of Anbang think tank have the following personal judgments:
First, it is difficult for HSBC to leave the China market. Unlike other western financial institutions, HSBC Holdings is registered in London, but its "historical and cultural registration place" is in mainland China and Hong Kong, and its market is deeply rooted in the China market (including Hong Kong and the mainland). According to the annual report of HSBC, the adjusted income of HSBC in 20 19 was USD 55.4 billion, and the adjusted pre-tax profit was USD 22.2 billion. In the Asian market, the adjusted revenue is $30.5 billion (accounting for 55% of global revenue); The profit after pre-tax adjustment reached $654.38+$08.6 billion (accounting for 83.8% of the total profit). Among them, the adjusted pre-tax profit of the Hong Kong market is US$ 65,438+US$ 0,265,438 +0 billion (accounting for 54.5% of the total profit). According to the report of HSBC in the first quarter of 2020, Hong Kong contributed US$ 466,543.8 billion, accounting for 40% of the Group's total revenue in the first quarter. Of the pre-tax profit of $3.23 billion, Hong Kong accounted for $2.85 billion, accounting for 88.2%.
Second, it will be difficult for HSBC to get rid of the status of "grinding the heart" in the Sino-US game. Hong Kong has become the "grinding heart" of the US-China game and the "outpost" of the geopolitical game. It is difficult for HSBC, which is rooted in Hong Kong, to get rid of this situation. At the same time, for the sake of market interests, it is difficult for HSBC to make a decision to withdraw from the China market. In ANBOUND's classification of foreign capital evacuated from China, HSBC belongs to the category of "falling". It is difficult for HSBC to get rid of the geopolitical game between China and the United States, especially after the implementation of China's Port Safety Law and the United States' Hong Kong Autonomy Law, the two countries will play a geopolitical game based on the legal level. HSBC is a "giant" in the financial industry, but it is like a boat in international politics, and its future is full of uncertainty. If it can't leave the China market, HSBC needs to seek a balance between China and the United States in the future, instead of just considering the unilateral hegemony and interests of the United States.
Third, the situation of HSBC in China Mainland and Hongkong will undergo subtle changes. The latest evidence released by Canadian courts reveals the fact that HSBC participated in "framing" Meng Wanzhou and cooperated with the United States to suppress Huawei. This quickly aroused the anger of public opinion in China against HSBC, and the offensive remarks against HSBC will definitely increase in the future. In addition, HSBC's assistance to the United States as a "tainted witness" will affect its commercial reputation and market image. In the future, some enterprises and individual customers who have important relations with China may avoid HSBC when choosing a bank, so as to avoid becoming "victims" of HSBC going to the United States. This will have a negative impact on HSBC's markets in the Mainland and Hong Kong.
Fourth, the China administration may not deliberately suppress HSBC. Although HSBC stabbed Huawei in the back, from a larger perspective, researchers from Anbang think tank estimate that the China government will not deliberately suppress HSBC. The reason is: (1) HSBC is very important to Hong Kong. In the future, Hong Kong needs to maintain its position as a prosperous and international financial center. HSBC was born in Hong Kong, which has a great relationship with Hong Kong residents and enterprises. It is an important symbol and an important commercial existence. (2) China's opening to the outside world needs foreign capital, not only the introduction of foreign capital, but also the continuous operation of foreign capital. HSBC is the foreign bank with the largest number of outlets in China, and it is representative among foreign financial institutions. (3) China's "sanctions" against foreign banks need to be based on laws, and the current legislative status can hardly be traced back to the past. China's Law on International Criminal Judicial Assistance was promulgated on 20 18, and the Port Security Law was promulgated on June 30, 2020. These two laws may not trace back to HSBC's past behavior, but they will form legal constraints on HSBC's future behavior.
HSBC's participation in the US crackdown on Huawei will cause complex repercussions in China. From the overall situation, the China government should not deliberately attack HSBC, and it may not be able to go back to the past legally. However, the future development of HSBC in China market may be affected to some extent, and its future behavior will be bound by the laws of China. To put it bluntly, this is the only time to help China Company, and it won't happen again.