Day: June 14, 2023

HSBC and StanChart pressed by Hong Kong regulator to take on crypto clients

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Hong Kong’s banking regulator is pressuring lenders including HSBC and Standard Chartered to take on crypto exchanges as clients, even as US regulators crack down on the industry. At a meeting last month, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority questioned the UK-based lenders and Bank of China on why they were not accepting crypto exchanges as clients, three people with knowledge of the matter said. Due diligence on potential customers should not “create undue burden”, particularly “for those setting up an office in Hong Kong to look for the opportunities here”,…

HSBC and StanChart pressed by Hong Kong to take on crypto clients

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Hong Kong’s banking regulator is pressuring lenders including HSBC and Standard Chartered to take on crypto exchanges as clients, even as US regulators crack down on the industry. At a meeting last month, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority questioned the UK-based lenders and the Bank of China on why they are not accepting crypto exchanges as clients, three people with knowledge of the matter said. Due diligence on potential customers should not “create undue burden”, particularly “for those setting up an office in Hong Kong to look for the opportunities…

China ramps up coal power while pushing for renewables

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“China always honours its commitments.” So began a speech in late 2020 by Xi Jinping, the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao Zedong, just months after he stunned the UN General Assembly in New York with a promise to cut China’s net carbon dioxide emissions to nearly zero by 2060. Barely three years later, however, and President Xi’s hallmark climate commitments — which also include a promise for China to hit peak carbon before 2030 — are once again making the news. Many environmentalists believe a renewed coal frenzy threatens…

Canada freezes ties with Chinese bank AIIB over claim it is ‘dominated by Communist party’

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Canada is freezing its ties with the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) after the bank’s global communications director resigned and said the bank was “dominated by the Communist party”. Finance minister Chrystia Freeland said on Wednesday Canada was putting its ties with AIIB on hold while it investigated the allegations and did not rule out any outcomes, a clear hint that Ottawa could pull out of a bank it officially joined in March 2018. The AIIB was established by Chinese president Xi Jinping in 2016 as a Chinese alternative…

US Lawmakers Discuss Expectations for Blinken Trip to China

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Washington —  Republican and Democrat senators are backing Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s trip to China beginning Friday but remain skeptical that it will lead to a breakthrough in relations with Beijing. Blinken is expected to emphasize the importance of maintaining open lines of communication between the two countries and discussing regional security issues, climate change and the global economy. State Department officials also said the issue of illegal fentanyl trafficking to the United States would also be a prominent part of the talks. Ahead of the trip, VOA’s China…

Canada freezes activity at ‘China’s World Bank’ after infiltration claims

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Canada has frozen all activity at the multilateral lender known as “China’s World Bank” after a top official resigned alleging the institution is run by Communist party members who “operate like an internal secret police”.  Bob Pickard, the Canadian director-general for communications of the Beijing-headquartered Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, said he flew to Tokyo on Wednesday because he feared for his safety after raising concerns about what he claimed was the party’s infiltration of the lender. The controversy, which underlines the tensions in multilateral institutions trying to bridge the growing…

FirstFT: Chinese Communist party accused of ‘invisible government’ at Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

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Good morning. Today’s top story is about a controversy at the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. But first I’d like to introduce myself, as I just began writing this newsletter two weeks ago, and encourage you to let me know what stories you’d like to see in your FirstFT newsletter. Send your thoughts to benjamin.wilhelm@ft.com. I’d love to hear from you! A Canadian communications chief of the multilateral lender that is China’s answer to the World Bank has resigned, alleging that the institution is run by Communist party members who “operate…

No bail for exiled Chinese businessman Guo Wengui

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Prosecutors have said Guo defrauded thousands of followers who invested in a media company, cryptocurrency and other ventures, and spent some proceeds on luxuries including a US$37 million yacht, a US$3.5 million Ferrari and a New Jersey mansion. Also known as Ho Wan Kwok and Miles Kwok, Guo has pleaded not guilty to 11 charges including securities fraud, wire fraud and concealing money laundering. In denying bail, US District Judge Analisa Torres on April 20 said prosecutors had established that if released Guo would be a serious flight risk and…

Chinese police target prominent rights lawyers with harassment, travel bans

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Police in China are keeping up their harassment of prominent rights lawyers, putting pressure on recently evicted Wang Quanzhang and his family, slapping a travel ban on Li Heping and his family, while denying rights attorney Xie Yang a phone call with his sick father. A police officer from the Beijing suburb of Changping pushed his way into the Wang family home on Wednesday, refusing to show ID and demanding to read the couple’s lease agreement, according to a video clip posted by Wang’s wife Li Wenzu on Twitter. “Comrade…

US official: Blinken not seeking ‘deliverables’ in Beijing

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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will not be seeking “deliverables” during a visit to Beijing this weekend, according to a top official, who instead framed the trip as an embryonic effort to reopen communications between the world’s top powers. Blinken will be hoping to “reduce the risk of miscalculation” and conflict by reengaging with Chinese diplomats on areas of disunity after months of tensions, Daniel Kritenbrink, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, said on Wednesday.  “This is not a visit in which I would anticipate…