HSBC issues fresh statement to distance itself from police crackdown on protest fundraiser after demonstrators vandalise Hong Kong branch on Christmas Eve
- HSBC says it is ‘saddened and disappointed by the acts of vandalism’ at its Mong Kok branch
- Bank reiterates it closed Spark Alliance’s account in November to adhere to its global standards, while police notification for action came only in December
Banking giant HSBC has issued a fresh statement to further distance itself from a police decision to freeze about HK$70 million (US$9 million) from a fund raised to support Hong Kong’s anti-government protesters, after radicals vandalised one of its branches for the first time on Christmas Eve.
The city’s largest bank was embroiled in the controversy after police earlier this month froze the crowdfunded capital from a corporate account held by Spark Alliance HK, a non-profit organisation set up in 2016 to help protesters.
Police also arrested four people on suspicion of money laundering, who were released on bail within hours.
On Tuesday night, a group of black-clad protesters smashed the glass walls of the bank’s branch at the junction of Nathan Road and Argyle Street in Mong Kok and started a fire at its entrance.
They also spray-painted graffiti on its walls, one of which read “revenge for Spark Alliance”.