As HSBC reels from being caught in the tailwinds of the worsening economic and trade tensions between Washington and Beijing, it is ordinary Hongkongers who find themselves victims as they watch their life savings being swept away.

The fortunes of Hong Kong’s Mandatory Provident Fund – a compulsory monthly retirement savings program – are closely tied to those of the beleaguered HSBC Holdings (0005) in the midst of the U.S.-China conflict.

One-third of the 417 MPF policies now available hold HSBC shares in their portfolios. Almost 3 million people are covered by the MPF, which has a total asset pool of HK$967.8 billion (US$125 billion), according to government statistics.

Shares in the London-based bank which makes the majority of its profits in Hong Kong and China, plummeted to their lowest in 25 years on Monday, hammered after a leaked U.S. report added fresh allegations of the lender’s complicity in money laundering and speculation it would be among the first foreign companies punished under China’s new “unreliable entity list.”

HSBC dropped 5.3% to close at HK$29.30 in Hong Kong, its lowest since 1995. Meanwhile, other banks also faced strong headwinds. Standard Chartered (2888) plunged 6% to close at HK$34.90.

HSBC accounts for 7% of the benchmark Hang Seng Index by market capitalization. Among the index’s constituent members, only AIA and Tencent are bigger, at 10.3% and 10.1%, respectively.

Tencent’s WeChat was the target of U.S. sanctions last week, with telecoms giant Huawei added to a blacklist. In response, China’s Commerce Ministry was reported to have included HSBC on a new “unreliable entity list” – in part as punishment for its role helping U.S. authorities target Huawei for breaking earlier sanctions on Iran.

Christopher Hui, Hong Kong’s Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, said in May that as of the end of March, a total of 259 MPF fund portfolios held HSBC and Standard Chartered stocks, and that these investments accounted for 1.5% of total MPF assets.

But as HSBC and Standard Chartered have slumped 34% and 19% since the end of March, it is reasonable to assume that the investment performance of the MPF has also been dragged down.

The Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau had not replied to Apple Daily’s inquiries regarding the latest data about the two banks at the time of publication.

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