HSBC can't afford to get locked out of China, as Asia is far and away the bank's most lucrative market:
The current issues come after HSBC closed an account that held funds used by Spark Alliance — a nonprofit organization that financed protest-related causes like legal and medical bills — and after police froze around HK$70 million tied to the account.
HSBC said that the closure was for regulatory and compliance reasons "categorically unrelated to the current Hong Kong situation," per the Journal. Amid the unrest, the bank has closed several branches across the city, including in the busy Central and Wan Chai districts and has suspended service at more than a dozen ATMs and express banking centers in districts hit by protests.
The bank is in a difficult position in the region, caught between the ire of protesters and the possibility of irking the Chinese government. Between the branch closures due to vandalism and the threat that customers sympathetic to protestors will take their deposits elsewhere, HSBC's Hong Kong business is suffering from the protests.
However, the bank likely has no choice but to comply with the demands of the police and the Chinese government: To do otherwise could quickly rattle the bank similar to how major Hong Kong airline Cathay Pacific Airways saw the departure of both its CEO and chairman after it drew fire from Beijing over employee participation in protests.
And HSBC can't afford to get locked out of China, as Asia is far and away the bank's most lucrative market.
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