Standard Chartered is blocking tens of millions of pounds of pension savings belonging to political exiles from Hong Kong on the orders of the Chinese government.
The London-based FTSE 100 bank has frozen £20 million of savings of British National (Overseas) passport holders who fled repressive national security laws. The Mail on Sunday reported last week that another Asia-focused bank, HSBC, was acting similarly.
Hong Kongers can withdraw their pension early if they have permanently settled overseas. To do so, they need to provide documentary proof that they are permitted to reside abroad.
In 2021 China and Hong Kong’s pension regulator said they would no longer accept BNO passports as valid travel documents.
Bobby Dean of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Hong Kong said this was to ‘cynically punish those Hong Kongers who have moved to Britain by blocking access to money that is rightfully theirs’.
The rights group Hong Kong Watch Pension said savings of £3 billion were being withheld from 126,500 Hong Kongers of which £1 billion is overseen by HSBC or Standard Chartered.
A spokesman for Standard Chartered said: ‘As in all our markets, we are committed to complying with all relevant laws and regulations.’
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