“Top shareholder Aviva slams HSBC and StanChart’s Hong Kong stance”, 9 June 2020

Aviva Investors has hit out at HSBC and Standard Chartered's decision to back China’s new security law for Hong Kong, in one of the first signs of disquiet from a big London shareholder on the issue.

In a 9 June statement, equities chief investment officer David Cumming said: “We are uneasy at the decisions of HSBC and Standard Chartered to publicly support the proposed new national security law in Hong Kong without knowing the details of the law or how it will operate in practice.”

Aviva Investors is the asset-management arm of one of the UK’s biggest insurance companies. Its 0.46% stake in HSBC and 1.35% holding in Standard Chartered places it among both banks’ top 20 investors, according to Factset data.

“If companies make political statements, they must accept the corporate responsibilities that follow. Consequently, we expect both companies to confirm that they will also speak out publicly if there are any future abuses of democratic freedoms connected to this law,” Cummings added.

Both banks have faced criticism from City figures and politicians over their decision to publicly back the new Chinese security law…

Both banks declined to comment beyond their statements released…