Hong Kong investment bankers employed by Chinese groups are on track to outnumber those in the territory with Wall Street and international banks, in a reversal that underscores Beijing’s growing influence in the city.
More than a year of political tumult has put the brakes on expansion by international banks in the Asian financial hub, Financial Times analysis shows, with the passage of a controversial national security law likely to hasten this trend.
“The protests, the national security law, the pandemic, the trade war — it’s all accelerating this,” said John Mullally, head of financial sector recruitment in Hong Kong at Robert Walters, who increasingly deals with Chinese clients. Financing for mainland Chinese companies is becoming “the only game in town”, he added.