HSBC’s Dividend Shock Leaves Deep Marks in Hong Kong
- HSBC scraps dividend, adding more pain to struggling Hong Kong
- Shareholder movement to reverse decision gains few followers
Photographer: Anthony Walla/AFP via Getty Images
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Last month HSBC Holdings Plc shocked investors by announcing it would scrap its dividend. For the Hong Kong Medical Association, a group in charge of community public health programs instrumental in the fight against the coronavirus and a long-time investor in the city’s biggest bank, the news meant it would lose 7% of its annual spending budget.
With more than half its stock portfolio invested in the bank, the group is now under pressure to trim its spending, adding to strains in a city hurt by the virus outbreak and months of anti-government protests, according to Leung Chi-chiu, its honorary treasurer.