StanChart CEO says Hong Kong ‘open’, plans to attend summit

Standard Chartered Plc’s chief executive officer said he plans to attend a November summit of global bankers in Hong Kong, in a show of support for the event.

Hong Kong is open, Bill Winters said in an interview on the sidelines of a Bloomberg Live forum in Singapore on Monday. He will attend the event organized by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority even if a quarantine is still on, he said.

HSBC Holdings Plc. Chief Executive Officer Noel Quinn has also said that he planned to attend the two-day conference.

Hong Kong is targeting an end to hotel quarantine in November, ahead of the meeting and an international rugby competition, even as a resurgence in Covid-19 cases prompts health officials to push back on the plan, people familiar with the matter have said this month.

“It has been and will continue to be an outstanding financial center, with its proximity to China,” Winters said in reply to a question on why he’s positive on Hong Kong.

(Bloomberg)