London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Sunday, Aug 10, 2025

HSBC is biggest loser in never-ending US-China global power play

HSBC is biggest loser in never-ending US-China global power play

Europe’s biggest bank is being buffeted by the pandemic and crossfire between Beijing and Washington

In most respects HSBC is no different from any other bank. Plunging activity means lending is down, more money is being put aside to cover losses and profits are being squeezed.

There is, though, one crucial difference between Europe’s biggest bank and its rivals: HSBC makes more than half its profits from Hong Kong – and that makes life pretty uncomfortable right now. The reason the bank’s share price is trading at levels last seen before the handover of the former British colony to China in 1997 is partly due to the state of the global economy but also has a lot to do with global politics.

Put simply, HSBC is caught in the middle of an intensifying cold war between Washington and Beijing and has managed to upset both parties.

Back in 2018, the bank provided documents to the US authorities that led to the arrest in Canada of the chief financial officer of the Chinese tech giant Huawei. That infuriated Beijing, which does not appear to have been placated by the HSBC’s supine decision to provide a public show of support for China’s new security crackdown law in Hong Kong. The Americans, though, are hopping mad and are making all sorts of minatory noises. Washington could make life extremely difficult for HSBC in the US.

Boris Johnson can probably understand how Noel Quinn, HSBC’s chief executive, feels. Just like the bank, Britain made a strategic decision when David Cameron and George Osborne were running the show that it made sense to do business with a fast-growing economic superpower. The assumption – shared by HSBC and the UK government – was that it was possible to be on good terms with both the US and China, and it was not a question of one or the other.

That all seems a long time ago. The struggle between the US and China might have begun as a fight over tariffs, exports and trade regimes but has since expanded to include human rights, national security and the merits of different models of capitalism.

There is no hint that the contest will end even if Joe Biden beats Donald Trump in the November presidential election, which is bad news for the global economy, bad news for the UK and bad news for HSBC.


Working from home: Why government is hot under the collar

Not so long ago many companies had an aversion to their staff working from home. Managers felt they needed to keep tabs on what workers were doing. Otherwise there would be skiving on an industrial scale, which would affect the bottom line.

It has taken a global pandemic to change the corporate mindset. Companies have found, perhaps to their surprise, that those WFH have actually been sitting at their computer rather than sagging off to the park, the shops or the golf course. Many of them are wondering why they have been paying so much for office space when modern technology means teams can keep in touch via Zoom calls.

These days it is the government, rather than companies, that is pressing for people to return to their desks and it is not hard to see why. Business districts are like ghost towns, and that has a significant knock-on effect on a range of enterprises: sandwich bars, pubs, shops and minicab firms among them.

From the start of the month, ministers made it possible for firms to order their employees back to the office provided it was safe to do so. Yet, against the backdrop of local restrictions being imposed and with the government itself stoking fears about a second wave of Covid-19, companies are inevitably going to err on the side of caution.


More mixed messages on obesity

Last week’s big thing for the government was Boris Johnson’s campaign to tackle obesity. This week’s wheeze is Rishi Sunak’s “eat out to help out” initiative under which for certain days in August we can all get 50% off a burger and fries or a pizza. Just a teeny bit of a mixed message there, perhaps?

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Street justice isn’t pretty but how else do you deal with this kind of insanity? Sometimes someone needs to standup and say something
Armenia and Azerbaijan sign U.S.-brokered accord at White House outlining transit link via southern Armenia
Barcelona Resolves Captaincy Issue with Marc-André ter Stegen
US Justice Department Seeks Release of Epstein and Maxwell Grand Jury Exhibits Amid Legal and Victim Challenges
Trump Urges Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan to Resign Over Alleged Chinese Business Ties
Scotland’s First Minister Meets Trump Amid Visit Highlighting Whisky Tariffs, Gaza Crisis and Heritage Links
Trump Administration Increases Reward for Arrest of Venezuelan President Maduro to Fifty Million Dollars
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
OpenAI Launches GPT‑5, Its Most Advanced AI Model Yet
Embarrassment in Britain: Homelessness Minister Evicted Tenants and Forced to Resign
President Trump nominated Stephen Miran, his top economic adviser and a critic of the Federal Reserve, to temporarily fill an open Fed seat
The AI-Powered Education Revolution: Market Potential and Transformative Impact
Chikungunya Virus Outbreak in Southern China: Over 7,000 Hospitalized
French wine makers have seen catastrophic damage to vines that were almost ready to be harvested after the worst fires in more than 70 years burned through the south of the country
US Lawmaker Probes Intel CEO’s China Ties Amid National Security Concerns
Brazilian President Lula says he’ll contact the leaders of BRICS states to propose a unified response to U.S. tariffs
Trump Open to Meeting Putin as Soon as Next Week, with Possible Trilateral Summit Including Zelenskiy
Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau spark dating rumors, joining high stakes world of celeb-politician romances
US envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow to seek a breakthrough in the Ukraine war ahead of President Trump’s peace deadline
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Nine people have been hospitalized and dozens of salmonella cases have been reported after an outbreak of infections linked to certain brands of pistachios and pistachio-containing products, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada
Karol Nawrocki Inaugurated as Poland’s President, Setting Stage for Clash with Tusk Government
Trump Signals JD Vance as ‘Most Likely’ MAGA Successor for 2028
US Charges Two Chinese Nationals for Illegal Nvidia AI Chip Exports
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
U.S. Tariff Policy Triggers Market Volatility Amid Growing Global Trade Tensions
Tariffs, AI, and the Shifting U.S. Macro Landscape: Navigating a New Economic Regime
Representative Greene Urges H-1B Visa Cuts Amid U.S.-India Trade Tensions
U.S. House Committee Subpoenas Clintons and Senior Officials in Epstein Investigation
Sydney Sweeney Registered as Republican as Controversial American Eagle Ad Sparks Debate
Trump Accuses Major Banks of Politically Motivated Account Denials and Prepares Executive Order
TikTok Removes Huda Kattan Video Over Anti-Israel Conspiracy Claims
Trump Threatens Tariffs on India Over Russian Oil Imports
German Finance Minister Criticizes Trump’s Attacks on Institutions
U.S. Proposes Visa Bond of Up to $15,000 for Some Applicants
U.S. Farmers Increase Lobbying Amid Immigration Crackdown
Elon Musk Receives $23.7 Billion Tesla Stock Award
Texas House Paralyzed After Democrats Walk Out Over Redistricting
Mexican Cartels Complicate Sheinbaum’s U.S. Security Talks
Mark Zuckerberg Declares War on the iPhone
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
OpenAI’s Bold Bet: Teaching AI to Think, Not Just Chat
Tesla Seeks Shareholder Approval for $29 Billion Compensation Package for Elon Musk
Nvidia is cutting prices on its RTX 50-series graphics cards after sales slowed and inventories piled up
Ghislaine Maxwell Transferred to Minimum-Security Prison Amid Ongoing DOJ Discussions
U.S. Tariffs Surge to Highest Levels in Nearly a Century Under Second Trump Term
×