HSBC is being drawn into Hong Kong's political turmoil with
protesters attacking some of its branches and graffiti daubed on the famous pair of lions that guard its city-centre headquarters.
Hong Kong is the bank's single most important market, accounting for just over half of its $12.5 billion pre-tax profits in the first half of 2019, though with the
protests tipping Hong Kong's
economy into recession, HSBC and its peers are expected to take a financial hit.
Until now, HSBC had largely escaped direct involvement in the often-violent anti-government protests that have shaken Hong Kong for more than six months even as other companies with perceived links to
Beijing have seen premises vandalised, including Bank of
China (Hong Kong), Hong Kong's second largest bank behind HSBC.