London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Oct 01, 2025

Ex-Hong Kong lawmaker Ted Hui lashes out at HSBC in fresh credit card row

Ex-Hong Kong lawmaker Ted Hui lashes out at HSBC in fresh credit card row

Ted Hui, who is currently in self-exile in Britain, maintained the cards’ cancellation was a ‘political consideration’.

Self-exiled former opposition lawmaker Ted Hui Chi-fung has accused banking giant HSBC of abruptly cancelling credit cards belonging to him and his family due to “political considerations” and “unlawfully embezzling” their money.

The as yet unsubstantiated allegations came weeks after Hong Kong police accused Hui of misappropriating money from a crowdfunding campaign and froze his bank accounts and those of his parents and wife, including ones with HSBC.

In a Facebook post on Saturday, Hui, now in London, said he had been told by the bank that all credit cards belonging to him and his family had been cancelled without notice as a “commercial decision”.

“The decision to cancel the credit cards is a political one, taken out of HSBC’s own political considerations, with a view to aiding the regime in cracking down on opposition voices,” he wrote. “This deed has no legal basis at all.”

The politician also accused the bank of “acting like a robber”, saying he was told that it “might not be possible” for him to receive refunds for certain goods purchased with the cards.

“All private property is protected by Hong Kong’s Basic Law. It has now been unlawfully embezzled by HSBC without any explanation,” Hui said, adding that he and his family had a good credit history.

He went on to demand the bank publicly account for the alleged actions, and called on the city’s regulatory institutions to look into the matter.

Hui maintained the move reflected the business community’s obedience to the regime under the Beijing-imposed national security law, which he characterised as overriding existing frameworks and constraining regulators, forcing them to be “politically correct”.

A spokeswoman for HSBC said the bank was unable to comment on matters concerning specific accounts.

“We have to abide by the laws of the jurisdiction in which we operate and this case is no different,” she said, adding that further enquiries should be directed to law enforcement.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority also refused to comment on Hui’s case. Its spokesman said banks were required to conduct their business according to applicable laws and international regulatory standards.

“Any bank customer who is concerned about the affairs of his or her accounts with banks should approach the banks concerned for assistance,” he said.

Francis Lun Sheung-nim, a broker and chief executive of Geo Securities, said that under normal circumstances, a customer could have their credit card cancelled if he or she had a poor credit history.

He added that the bank might have regarded the cancellation of the credit cards as “an unfinished step” amid political pressure from Beijing.

“HSBC might attempt to cut all ties with politically sensitive figures by different means, especially after the introduction of the national security law,” he said.

Even so, Lun said it would be unheard of for a bank to embezzle funds after cancelling a client’s credit card, adding that he hoped the bank would explain the matter to maintain the public’s confidence in the city’s banking system.

But finance sector lawmaker Ronick Chan Chun-ying said he believed it was normal for banks to close credit cards if they had doubts about clients’ income, regardless of their credit histories.

“The government stopped paying Hui for his roles as a legislator and district councillor, and he’s now a fugitive. The bank might know that his family has no stable income as well,” he said. “His accusations [against the bank] might be due to his ignorance of the banking system.”

Chan also suggested Hui could authorise a designee or a lawyer in Hong Kong to receive any refunds by cheque on his behalf.


Ted Hui said HSBC had told him he might not be able to receive refunds for certain purchases.


Out on bail and facing a raft of criminal charges related to last year’s anti-government protests in Hong Kong, Hui fled to Britain by way of Denmark last month.

The police force later confirmed that they had frozen HK$850,000 (US$109,600) in Hui’s accounts with HSBC, Hang Seng Bank and Bank of China over allegations of money laundering.

Denying the money laundering accusations, the self-exiled former politician posted an audit report on Facebook as evidence he had “never embezzled funds” from a law firm’s account that had held the crowdfunded money he was accused of misappropriating.

Police at the time had also warned that Hui’s recent social media remarks about “widening Hong Kong’s international battlefront” could have violated the city’s national security law, which forbids in broad terms any acts of secession, terrorism, subversion and collusion with foreign forces.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×