DLeaving its neighbors from its forty-five floors, the steel and glass headquarters of the British banking giant HSBC is the best milestone in East London’s horizon. But the 8 Canada Square building built these days by the famous architect Lord Foster looks like a cardboard decoration à la Mogador. The real power is now in the second tower of financial signs in red and white that the same Norman Foster was built in 1985 in Hong Kong.
During the presentation of the results, on 23 February, Noel Quinn, formerly the managing director of the European Financial Institution, confirmed the transfer of several executives and capital (100 billion dollars, or 82.58 billion euros!) From London to Hong Kong. The former Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corporation intends to take advantage of its unique position – the most Chinese of Western banks and the most European of Chinese banks – even if it means putting itself under Beijing’s orders.
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