Aviva lambasts UK banks' stance over Hong Kong

Aviva Investors has hit out at the decisions of UK-listed banks HSBC and Standard Chartered to publicly support China's plans to impose national security legislation on the region.

Both international banks were criticised by politicians after u-turning on their normal neutral political stance by backing the controversial proposed legislation that has led to renewed anti-government protests in Hong Kong.

And Aviva has become the first major backer of the banks to put on record their objections to the decisions.

If companies make political statements, they must accept the corporate responsibilities that follow."

David Cummings, Aviva's CIO, said: "We are uneasy at the decisions of HSBC and Standard Chartered to publicly support the proposed new national security law in Hong Kong without knowing the details of the law or how it will operate in practice.

He went on: "If companies make political statements, they must accept the corporate responsibilities that follow. Consequently, we expect both companies to confirm that they will also speak out publicly if there are any future abuses of democratic freedoms connected to this law."

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