HSBC is refusing to transfer £978million in pension savings belonging to thousands of Hong Kong exiles who have fled to Britain.
The FTSE 100 bank is withholding funds from tens of thousands of former Hong Kong residents who sought refuge in the UK following pro-democracy protests and the introduction of national security laws.
The banking giant, which has its headquarters in London but maintains significant operations in China, claims legal barriers prevent it from releasing the pension funds to those who have resettled in Britain.
The issue centres on Hong Kong’s Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF), a compulsory pension scheme that most Hong Kong residents and their employers pay into.
HSBC and Standard Chartered, both London-listed banks, serve as managers for the savings held through the MPF scheme.
Under normal circumstances, Hong Kong residents can withdraw their pension funds early if they have permanently resettled abroad.
However, to access these funds, individuals must provide documentary evidence proving their right to live in another country.
HSBC is refusing to transfer £978m in pension savings
GETTY/PA
The dispute stems from a 2021 decision by Chinese authorities and Hong Kong’s pension regulator to stop recognising British National (Overseas) – BNO – passports as valid travel documents or forms of identification.
This move was widely interpreted as retaliation after the UK Government announced Hong Kongers with BNO passports could apply for a new visa to settle in Britain.
The policy triggered a wave of migration to the UK, but HSBC’s subsequent freezing of pension pots has left thousands of émigrés struggling financially as they adapt to life in Britain.
Chloe Lo, a former journalist and single mother, says HSBC is denying her access to £57,000 saved over two decades in her pension pot.
The 41-year-old fled to Britain in 2023 to prevent her 16-year-old son from being sent to mainland China for ‘National Security Education’.
HSBC’s decision to block withdrawal of her savings had left her struggling financially, she told The Mail on Sunday.
She said: “I had to relocate my whole life to the UK but am just about surviving every month after paying rent and taking care of my son. Under the BNO visa scheme, I am not eligible for any public assistance with bills.”
Lo said not being able to access her savings meant she was being pursued for thousands of pounds of credit card debt in Hong Kong.
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She continued: “I have an American Express card that had £9,000 of debt on it, but as I haven’t been able to withdraw my pension pot to pay it off it has grown and now I owe £14,000. I would have paid it off long ago had I had access to my savings.”
According to advocacy group Hong Kong Watch, more than £3bn in MPF savings are being withheld from approximately 126,500 Hong Kong BNO passport holders.
HSBC controls roughly one-third of these frozen pension funds.
Blair McDougall MP, chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on Hong Kong, said: “We have tens of thousands of British who have stolen their life horses of them for fully political reasons by a dictatorship.
“HSBC has refused to appear before the parliament and it seems to have been done by the Diktat van Beijing instead of a formal change in the law.”
A HSBC spokesperson said: “Hong Kong’s legislation determines the conditions under which a member can include pension benefits under the MPF.
“The conditions for early withdrawal are a matter of rights and are not determined by the Trustee company.”
The Bank emphasised there are significant penalties for non-compliance, adding that neither HSBC nor other trustee companies have discretion in this matter.
Sir Mark Tucker, HSBC’s chairman, recently wrote in the Times that building closer economic ties with China offered an “enormous opportunity to British affairs”.
