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Chinese bank moves into Hong Kong office vacated by Japanese firm

蘋果日報 2021/03/09 22:04


A regional mainland Chinese bank with less than 10 billion yuan in operating income took prime office space in Hong Kong left behind by a Japanese company, signaling a shift in the city’s business environment since the introduction of the national security law.
Bank of Dongguan Co. Ltd is leasing eight units on the 25th floor of Two International Finance Centre in Central, according to records obtained from the Land Registry. The lease period began on Jan. 16 and will run for three years.
Space on the 25th and 27th floors of Two IFC were previously occupied by Nomura Holdings, a Japanese financial holdings company. Nomura ceased renting those two floors in early 2020, and the space was reportedly left unoccupied for one year before the Bank of Dongguan moved in.
Nomura’s lease on the 26th, 30th, 31st and 32nd floors of the building continues until 2023.
The Bank of Dongguan, established in 1999 with its headquarters in Dongguan city, Guangdong province, is a regional bank recognized by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. Its representative office in Hong Kong is located at Jardine House in Central.
The bank recorded an operating income of 9.08 billion yuan at the end of 2019, an increase of 21% year on year, according to its financial report, available on the HKMA’s website. The same report shows a net profit of 2.83 billion yuan at the end of 2019, a year-on-year increase of 18%.
Nomura’s downsizing in Hong Kong came a few months before the national security law took effect in June 2020. Foreign businesses have been concerned about the legislation’s impact on their operations in the city.
This week, the chief executive of SBI Holdings, a Japanese financial services company, told the Financial Times that he planned to withdraw from Hong Kong over concerns about the law.
Yoshitaka Kitao said regulatory uncertainties meant that Hong Kong had become less necessary as a gateway to mainland China, and he would rather have an office in Beijing or Shanghai if he wanted to do business there.
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