HSBC’s Hong Kong-listed shares crashed to their lowest close in more than a decade on Tuesday, hit by the fallout from revelations of the bank’s involvement in facilitating criminal activities and by concerns it may be put on an “Unreliable Entity List” by the Chinese government that could threaten its expansion in the world’s most populous nation, reported Caixin.
Europe’s biggest bank by assets saw its shares end the day down 2.05% at HK$28.7 ($3.70) on Tuesday, the lowest close since April 2009, after a 4.3% slide on Monday. Its London-listed shares fell 5.8% on Monday to 287.1 pence ($3.68), the weakest close since October 1998.
HSBC’s shares have dropped by around 50% this year as the bank has been engulfed in problems. In March, the company announced it was scrapping its dividend, and it’s been hit by falling profits and the Covid-19 pandemic. Investors have been concerned over possible sanctions by the Chinese government over claims that it provided information that contributed to the detention of Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s chief financial officer, in Canada in December 2018. The bank has also been seen as a candidate for inclusion on China’s “Unreliable Entity List” which was first flagged by the Ministry of Commerce in May 2019.