Four CEOs Confirm Not Attending Global Financial Leaders’ Investment Summit in HK

Image from the Hong Kong government website regarding the Global Financial Leaders' Investment Summit. Four senior executives of financial institutions who had scheduled to attend the summit are not attending. (image from Invest.HK)

The “Global Financial Leaders Investment Summit” being held Wednesday (Nov. 2) claimed to have about 200 financial leaders on its list of participants. But just a few days before the event, two of them informed the organizer that they were not coming, one due to work arrangements and the other due to physical discomfort. There were another two who said they were diagnosed with Covid-19 and indicated that they would also be absent. These eleventh-hour changes caught the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) by surprise, forcing an urgent update to the summit programme and participant changes on the eve of the summit.

Barclays Chief Executive C.S. Venkatakrishnan Group Cheif Executive of Barclays cancelled his trip to Asia due to work arrangements and will not be in Hong Kong to attend the “Global Financial Leaders’ Investment Summit” to be held on Wednesday (Nov.2). Also on the absentee list is Timothy Armour, chairperson, and chief executive of Capital Group, who will not attend due to ill health. In addition, Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser and Blackstone CEO Jonathan Gray will also be absent from the summit due to the confirmed COVID-19 infection. That means, in total, at least four senior executives of financial institutions who were originally scheduled to attend the meeting will not attend.

Some commentators believe that it has something to do with the Hong Kong government’s anti-pandemic policy and the U.S. officials’ earlier statement that attending the summit is deemed to assist in whitewashing the Hong Kong government’s human rights violations.

Paul Chan Mo-po, the Financial Secretary who was found to test COVID-19 positive during a visit to Saudi Arabia earlier tested negative on Oct. 31 and was expected to attend to fulfill his commitment.

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu responded after knowing the absence of these high-profile executives, saying, “This is indeed a very small number. We’re now seeing more than 200 participants, which is in line with our expectations.”

Four CEOs Failed to Attend

C.S. Venkatakrishnan cancelled his visit to Hong Kong, saying that he was originally scheduled to attend the summit, but he had temporarily cancelled his trip to Asia this week due to work rearrangements and would not attend events in Hong Kong and Singapore. The next day (Nov. 1), it was reported that Capital Group said that their CEO Timothy Armour would not attend the summit due to his feeling unwell.

Jonathan Gray, Jane Fraser, and Timothy Armour were all scheduled to participate in themed panel discussions, speaking on “Navigating through Uncertainty,” “Sustainable Finance,” and “How to Manage Assets in Turbulent Market Conditions,” but all are unable to attend. Blackstone CFO, Michael Chae, will attend the summit as a replacement for Jonathan Gray.

HK Government Uses the Summit to Show Hong Kong ‘Returning to Normal’

Paul Chan delivered a speech by way of a pre-recorded clip at Fintech Week that opened on Oct. 31. He said Hong Kong was “back in business” and wanted to tell the world that “We’re back.”

However, last Thursday (Oct. 27), the co-chairs of the U.S. Congressional and Executive Committee on China (CECC), Representative Jim McGovern, and Senator Jeff Merkley issued a statement calling on U.S. financial institutions Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, and other senior executives to reconsider their decision to attend the summit, criticizing their attendance at the event as “legitimizing” the CCP and the Hong Kong government in undermining Hong Kong’s autonomy, press freedom and the rule of law. At the same time, they helped to whitewash the Hong Kong government’s human rights violations and provide “political cover” for Lee Ka-chiu, who was sanctioned by the United States. The statement also pointed out that if the relevant financial institutions expand their investment in the authoritarian government, it will harm the national interests of the United States and accelerate the destruction of Hong Kong’s autonomy and the freedom of Hong Kong people, which will attract the attention of the US Congress.

CECC Calls on Top Financial Institutions to Reconsider Attending Summit

The HKMA claimed in their post that the summit would be attended by about 200 financial leaders, of which more than 40 were top managers of international financial institutions. According to the agenda of the summit, the meeting also included Noel Quinn, CEO of HSBC, Bill Winters, CEO of Standard Chartered, and heads of Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and UBS.

Before the news that Armour would not attend, there were different comments that the reasons these top executives of financial institutions cancelled their trips were related to the U.S. political statement and Hong Kong’s pandemic prevention policy.

Among them, current affairs commentator Chau Sze-tat said in his online programme that Venkatakrishnan “didn’t even bother finding an excuse” and wondered whether participants would cancel one after another by the time the summit opened. He believes that the top executives of financial institutions will take the above CECC statement into their consideration. In addition, in the past two years, the Hong Kong government has not responded to the appeal of financial institutions through the foreign chambers of commerce to relax entry quarantine measures. Now the government is asking a favour from these people and using their presence to indicate that Hong Kong “is back.” It is fully understandable that, at first, those financial institutions gave the Hong Kong government respect saying they would attend, but in the end, they decided not to come. This is the usual business diplomacy in real life, where everybody shows respect for each other so as not openly to spoil the relationship for the future openly.

In addition, Citigroup said on Thursday (Oct. 27) that Venkatakrishnan was unable to come to Hong Kong to attend the summit. However, Ng Chi-sum, a senior media person, pointed out in his online programme that Venkatakrishnan’s time to declare his absence from the summit was still a week away, and he should have recovered within a week after contracting the virus. He believed his decision is more on his unwillingness to go through all those clumsy COVID testing rounds in Hong Kong for inbound travellers.

As required by the government, people entering Hong Kong from overseas can board the plane only if they obtain a negative result of a rapid antigen test within 24 hours before the scheduled flight departure and meet the relevant vaccination requirements too. After entering Hong Kong, they will be subject to 3-day medical surveillance. During this period, they will be restricted by the “yellow code” of the vaccine pass. They are not allowed to enter high-risk places where no mask is needed, such as restaurants and bars, group activities, indoor activity places, and other places that require special protection.

Commentator: Hong Kong is ‘Far from Returning to Normal’

Ng Chi-sum added that the Hong Kong government created a “door of convenience” for the participants of the summit. The Chief Executive of the HKMA, Eddie Yu Wai-man, said last week that in order for participants to make the best use of their short stay in Hong Kong for various activities, a special convenience scheme will be provided, including during their surveillance period, they can share meals with others in private rooms, enter some premises that require inspection of “vaccine passports,” and the like. In addition, if the test result is positive, they can choose to take a special plane to leave Hong Kong or go into isolation until it is deemed safe from a public health perspective when the isolation can be lifted.

However, Ng pointed out that many other countries do not need people to report the confirmed cases and allow them to solve the problem by themselves. But Hong Kong still needs to test and send the confirmed cases away. He questioned how many people would come in the end. “Who else will use whatever excuses not to come is unknown for the time being. But even if it can go on as scheduled, will it show a return to normal? Because these people are exempted, what will happen to their other employees in the future?” All these are solid proof that Hong Kong is “far from returning to normal.”

Records show that this summit was proposed by Paul Chan in this year’s Budget when Hong Kong still imposed strict pandemic prevention restrictions on tourists arriving from overseas. Until September, when Hong Kong still implemented hotel quarantine for inbound tourists from overseas, it was rumoured that the Hong Kong government was considering waiving the quarantine of the summit attendees. But the Wall Street Journal reported earlier that some invitees were still planning to decline the invitation for fear of receiving special preferential treatment and causing unnecessary criticism.