The ViewJunior bankers find themselves out of depth amid capitalism with Chinese characteristics
Hong Kong’s financial services industry has been infected by a host like in the film Alien - subverted for laundering assets from China.
This self-evident statement is only meaningful and nihilistic when you bear witness to the gravity of money laundering that has forced Beijing to stomp on the brakes for overseas investments. The entire know-your-client (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) regimes look like sieves.
“Witness a parallel financial universe where money, price and value are merely constructs in time and space for wealth transfer, ” as Rod Serling, the host of Twilight Zone might say.
Take an elevator tour of, let’s say, the International Finance Centre. Besides well known international financial institutions, you can find relatively unknown mainland funds and investment companies.
Knock on the door and ask if you can meet an investment manager to talk about a proposal. An assistant usually shows up giving you the excuse to enter the lobby and look about. They usually say they are not interested in meeting you because they stick to their own deal relationships. But, at every mainland investment fund, the offices are virtually empty except for a personal assistant or book keeper.
