Wall Street Giants Confirmed to Attend Hong Kong Global Financial Summit

Hongkong organizations submit letter of opposition to US officials

A combination file photo shows UBS, Citibank, Morgan Stanley, Blackrock, JPMorgan Chase, and Goldman Sachs from Reuters archive. Reuters

Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) is holding the Global Financial Leaders’ Investment Summit on Nov. 2, and the HKMA announced some 200 global corporate executives have confirmed to attend the summit. Twenty Hong Kong overseas’ organizations sent a letter to U.S. President Biden, U.S. Secretary of State Blinken, and other U.S. politicians, criticizing executives from U.S. financial institutions who disregard U.S. sanctions on Hong Kong.

The U.S. sanctions on Hong Kong are limited to monetary transactions and cannot restrict Americans’ presence at any event.

During the press conference on the “2022/23 Budget” in February this year, Paul Chan, H.K. financial secretary, announced the HKMA would hold a high-profile Global Financial Leaders’ Investment Summit, where invitees are senior executives of international and mainland Chinese financial institutions. Top executives could personally experience and understand Hong Kong’s unique advantages and investment environment and discuss future global financial opportunities and the role that Hong Kong could play. He stated, “to further tap into Hong Kong’s strength in attracting investment and our influence as an international financial center.”

Due to the fifth wave of the epidemic and the strict anti-epidemic policies still ongoing in Hong Kong, society has been questioning how to hold the summit since February. On Sept. 29, Eddie Yue, Chief Executive of the HKMA, revealed that the summit to be held in November would be attended by some 200 financial executives, including more than 100 senior executives of global financial institutions and over 30 executive chairmen of global top corporations. Corporates cover banking, securities, asset management, private equity and venture capital, hedge funds, insurance, and other financial institution functions.

20 Hong Kong Overseas Organizations Submit Letters to US Officials

On Oct. 17, twenty Hong Kong overseas’ organizations issued a letter to the U.S. president, secretary of state, secretary of the treasury, members of the U.S. House Financial Services Committee, Senate Banking Committee, House Committee of Foreign Affairs, and Senate Committee of Foreign Relations, criticizing senior executives of America’s largest banks for attending the Hong Kong financial summit to gather with perpetrators of human rights violations which was sanctioned by the United States and to support the Hong Kong government. The major co-signing Hong Kong overseas’ organizations in America include Hong Kong Democracy Council, Chicago Solidarity with Hong Kong, and DC4HK (Washingtonians Supporting Hong Kong).

The joint letter stated that financial institutions such as Citigroup, J.P. Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Blackstone, Goldman Sachs, and other financial institutions are planning to attend the summit to gather with Hong Kong officials who are sanctioned by the U.S. government for violating the human rights of Hong Kong people. The joint organizations also criticized the Hong Kong government for utilizing the presence of senior executives of Western financial institutions to conceal the Hong Kong government’s actions over the past few years and maintain Hong Kong’s status as an international financial center. The Hong Kong government has even praised these financial institutions and their executives as “staunch supporters of Hong Kong.”

The joint letter called for action from the U.S. government, advising Jamie Dimon, J.P. Morgan Chase chairman, Jane Fraser, Citigroup CEO, and other institutions of the risks of violating U.S. policy and the legal and regulatory consequences of participating in the summit.

Summit Topics

The summit will begin at 9 a.m. on Nov. 2 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Central, Hong Kong. The summit will start off with welcome remarks by Eddie Yue, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, and a keynote speech by John Lee, Chief Executive, followed by a China Policy Session—Perspectives of Chinese Financial Regulators.

The theme of the 2022 summit is “Navigating Beyond Uncertainty” and comprises three topics.

In the first session, “Navigating Through Uncertainty,” speakers included James Gorman, chairman and CEO of Morgan Stanley, Jonathan Gray, president and COO of Blackstone, Colm Kelleher, chairman of UBS Group, and David Solomon, chairman, and CEO of Goldman Sachs.

The second session, “Sustainable Finance—from Paris to Sharm el-Sheikh and beyond,” with speakers including Joseph Bae, co-CEO of KKR, Valérie Baudson, CEO of Amundi, and Jane Fraser, CEO of Citigroup.

The third session is “Technology, Innovation and the Future of Finance.”

Paul Chan, the financial secretary, will deliver a speech leading up to lunch. After lunch is the “fireside chat” session with Mark Carney, vice chairman of Brookfield Asset Management, hosted by Norman Chan, H.K. Academy of Finance and former chief executive of HKMA, to discuss financial resources and climate change.

Simon Lee: Main US Banks Want to Maintain Relationships with HK Government

In an interview conducted by an Epoch Times reporter, Simon Lee, a political and economic commentator, said he believes that many U.S. giants are going to attend the Hong Kong Global Financial Summit because they want to continue to maintain a good relationship with the Hong Kong government, as well as for the Hong Kong and Chinese markets. “Amid the U.S.-China conflict, all financial institutions want is to stay out of the way and gain benefits from both sides without causing any trouble,” he said.