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HSBC is obliged to comply with Hong Kong police requests on account freezes, chief exec tells MPs

‘I’m not making a moral judgment, it’s not my position to make a moral or political judgement on these matters’

Noel Quinn, chief executive officer of HSBC Holdings PLC, speaks during a panel discussion at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Beijing, China, on Friday, Nov. 22, 2019.
Noel Quinn, chief executive officer of HSBC Holdings PLC, speaks during a panel discussion at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Beijing, China, on Friday, Nov. 22, 2019. Photo: Takaaki Iwabu/Getty Images

HSBC chief executive Noel Quinn has told MPs that it is not his role to make moral or political judgements about freezing customer accounts after criticism the bank had locked Hong Kong democracy activists out of their accounts.

Quinn faced questions before a parliamentary committee after the bank took action to freeze the HSBC-held accounts of former Hong Kong lawmaker Ted Hui almost two months ago. Hui asked UK MPs to probe the decision.

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