Hong Kong (AFP)

HSBC action hit its lowest level in 25 years on Monday amid reports suggesting that the bank could face sanctions from Beijing, and accusations that it allowed the transit of astronomical amounts of dirty money.

The stock of the banking giant fell more than 4% at the start of the session to fall to HKD 29.60, a low since 1995, as investors questioned its ability to continue operations in China and Hong Kong, two of its key markets.

The English-speaking Chinese nationalist daily Global Times reports that the group could be one of the first to be placed on an "untrusted list" by Beijing, as part of retaliatory measures against certain foreign countries, foremost among them. United States.

The article calls into question in particular the role of HSBC in the investigation carried out by Washington on Huawei, and the arrest in Canada, at the request of the United States, of the financial director of the Chinese giant, Meng Wanzhou.

HSBC's inclusion on such a list could involve penalties ranging from fines to restriction of activities or entry of equipment and personnel into China.

"If the company is classified as unreliable by China, which seems safe considering this is a Global Times article, the bank is going to face difficulties with its business in China," Banny told Bloomberg News Lam, expert at CEB International Investment Corp.

"They may have difficulty growing their business in mainland China, as they have invested so much there in recent years."

- "Powerful and dangerous actors" -

Another setback for the group founded in the 19th century in Hong Kong, then a British colony: it was cited on Sunday by an investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), among several banking giants who would have allowed criminals for years to use their accounts for dirty money transfers.

"Profits from the murderous drug wars, the embezzled fortunes of developing countries and the hard-earned economies stolen as part of a Ponzi scheme have all been able to come in and out of these financial institutions, despite warnings from their own employees. banks ", details the survey, conducted by 108 international media from 88 countries.

The investigation is based on thousands of "suspicious activity reports" (SARs) made to the US Treasury's financial police, FinCen, by banks around the world.

The ICIJ, which denounces the weaknesses of the regulation of the sector, affirms that the bank "continued to make profits thanks to powerful and dangerous actors" during the last two decades.

HSBC defended itself by responding to reporters that it had always complied with its legal obligations on reporting suspicious activity.

Another group listed in Hong Kong, Standard Chartered, also lost almost 4% in the session after being cited in this survey.

HSBC stock has lost half of its value since the start of the year, under the double impact of the pandemic and the deterioration of Sino-US relations.

The group saw its net profit plummet by 77% in the first half.

HSBC makes the vast majority of its profits in Asia, with China and Hong Kong being two of its main growth markets.

It is therefore particularly vulnerable to the rise in tensions between Beijing and Washington on many issues.

© 2020 AFP