Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests have mainly meant business as usual for the city’s banks, brokerages and financial firms.
CLSA Ltd., located in a tower directly behind the main protest area in the Admiralty district, didn’t have to activate its contingency plans even when crowds of demonstrators swelled into the hundreds of thousands. In Citibank Plaza, less than a kilometer away, Citigroup Inc. (C:US) saw no “meaningful impact.” Parry International Trading Ltd., a brokerage in Central, said business was unaffected.
While some staff in the industry have worked from home and some bank branches have been temporarily closed in protest hot-spots, Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd. (388) has left its hours unchanged throughout the crisis. Now, numbers of protesters are thinning as student leaders begin talks with the government on their calls for freer elections.
“Given the level of computerization in trading these days, there’s been zero impact on the industry,” said Gavin Parry, managing director of Parry International. “The only real impact the protest could have on market participants is if the Hong Kong exchange itself was affected.”
The benchmark Hang Seng Index rose 1.6 percent as of 2:55 p.m. local time, after losing 2.6 percent last week, the steepest drop since March. The Hong Kong dollar gained 0.07 percent, poised for the biggest two-day increase since December 2011.
Tear Gas
Student-led protests swelled after images of demonstrators fleeing exploding tear gas cannisters on Sept. 28 drew more people on to the streets. The protests blocked some main roads and shopping districts, and shuttered some retail and bank outlets.
Some financial services firms, such as Citigroup, activated contingency plans, letting staff work from home on Sept. 29. CLSA has a back-up office that it can use if necessary.
Dozens of protesters maintained a vigil outside the office of Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying today, while hundreds more were dotted along a blocked highway on the other side of the government complex. Protesters manned barricades on Queensway, in front of Pacific Place, where CLSA is based.
“CLSA remains business as usual today,” Mandy Ho, a spokeswoman for the securities firm, wrote in an e-mail. “We have been closely monitoring the Occupy Central activity since it unfolded and do not believe that it will threaten the continuity of our business operations.”
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has asked banks to resume services as soon as possible, it said in a statement. Seven bank branches remain closed, it said. Almost 50 branches were shuttered at the peak of the protests last week.
Branch Closures
Citigroup closed four of its 45 branches for “a few days” and asked some staff members to work from home on Sept. 29, James Griffiths, a spokesman for the New York-based bank, said in an e-mail. Now, just its Mong Kok branch is temporarily closed, he said.
Disruption “has been limited,” Griffiths said. “Something like 95 percent of transactions happen online so it’s not really had a meaningful impact.”
Standard Chartered Plc (STAN)’s services were operating normally today and disruptions from the protests had been minimal, Gabriel Kwan, a Hong Kong-based spokeswoman, said by phone. The lender has reopened all branches after earlier closing outlets in Admiralty, Causeway Bay and Mong Kok.
HSBC Holdings Plc’s building in Mong Kok, the district where a mob assaulted protesters on Oct. 3, remained closed to the public today, Gareth Hewett, a spokesman in Hong Kong, said by phone. The London-based bank’s other branches in the city are expected to be open today, he said.
Biggest Challenge
The student leaders raised hopes for a negotiated solution to the city’s biggest upheaval since the 1960s by meeting with officials for the first time yesterday to prepare the ground for talks on their demands.
The crisis -- triggered by China’s decision that candidates for the city’s top official post in the 2017 elections be vetted by a committee -- is the biggest challenge to the Chinese Communist Party’s authority over the city since the then-British colony was handed back in 1997.
“Right now it appears the blockades should dissipate in the next few days,” said Cliff Tan, the Hong Kong-based East Asia head of research for Mitsubishi UFJ, whose office is located in the Central business district. “The markets are fine today.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Darren Boey in Hong Kong at dboey@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Chitra Somayaji at csomayaji@bloomberg.net Paul Panckhurst
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