Page 25 - Aruba Today

BUSINESS A25
Tuesday 16 February 2016

EU steel workers HSBC to keep HQ in London, decides against Asia
protesting
cheap fairs,” he said. to our goal of making the
The bank launched the U.K. a great place to do
Chinese imports review last April in light of more business with China
regulatory and tax chang- and the rest of Asia,” the
RAF CASERT es implemented by the U.K. Treasury said in a state-
after the 2008 financial cri- ment after HSBC’s decision.
Associated Press sis. Particularly problematic Campaigners who want
was a 2010 tax on a bank’s the country to leave the
BRUSSELS (AP) — Steel global balance sheet, EU argued the decision
which penalized those with proved that big financial
company managers global operations such as institutions would not be
HSBC and Standard Char- frightened off by a leave
joined thousands of their tered. Fears that Britain vote. But Flint told the BBC
would vote to leave the Eu- that the bank has the abil-
employees from across the ropean Union also height- ity to move people from
ened concerns. London to Paris if necessary
European Union to pro- HSBC’s decision was a relief for the bank’s wholesale
to the government, which operations.
test Monday against the feared losing a pillar of Brit- Investec banking expert
ain’s financial world — and Ian Gordon, who thought
import of cheap Chinese the signal it would send a move was in the bank’s
more broadly for the econ- interest, suggested it was
products and to warn the The HSBC bank headquarters building is seen in London. Interna- omy at a time of heated dangerous to trust political
tional bank HSBC says it has decided to keep its headquarters in debate about whether or promises that won’t be en-
28-nation bloc not to open London after considering a move to Hong Kong in response to not to leave the EU. The acted until after the next
tougher U.K. banking regulations. thought of losing one of election. Concerns about
the doors further to Beijing. London’s financial icons slowing economic growth
(AP Photo/Frank Augstein) had sent the government in China and market vola-
The European steel industry into panic. tility around the world may
“It’s a vote of confidence have persuaded HSBC to
is accusing China of illegal in the government’s eco- stay with the status quo,
nomic plan, and a boost Gordon said. q
export subsidies and selling DANICA KIRKA Flint said that HSBC was, at
Associated Press its heart, a bank focused
products below produc- LONDON (AP) — Britain’s on trade and investment
biggest bank is staying put. flows. Sidestepping con-
tion cost, all of which con- HSBC Holdings plc said cerns about the recent vol-
it will keep its headquar- atility in Asian markets, Flint
tributes to the crisis in the ters in London, ending a said it had been a privilege
10-month process in which to choose between two of
European steel sector. one of the world’s largest fi- the world’s great financial
nancial companies consid- centers and that the de-
With whistles and firecrack- ered moving to Hong Kong cision was not based on
to get closer to its center short-term market dynam-
ers, the workers ringed of gravity in fast-growing ics.
Asian economies. “The U.K. is one of the most
some of the EU institutions “I think we’ve ended globally connected econ-
up with the best of both omies in the world with a
to push their demands to worlds,” HSBC chairman fantastic regulatory system
Douglas Flint told the BBC and legal system and im-
keep Chinese steel at bay. on Monday. “A pivot to mense experience in deal-
Asia, led from London.” ing with international af-
The industry argued that if

the EU recognizes China

as a market economy, a

status that would allow

for even more imports, it

would cost tens of thou-

sands of jobs.

“Everybody understands

that there is a high need

to act,” said Geert Van

Poelvoorde, president of

the Eurofer industry group, ARUBA TIME TRAVEL

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steel imports are fair and

provide for a level play-

ing field, something which

is especially critical in an

age of overproduction

and dumping into the Eu-

ropean markets. If China is

given the recognition of a

market economy it would

become even more diffi-

cult to take action against

trade which is deemed un-

fair.

The European steel sec-

tor employs some 330,000

people but the industry of-

ficial say hundreds of thou-

sands of jobs are also at risk

in the ceramics, glass, solar

panels and other sectors.

The Aegis alliance of ma-

jor European industries says

that three quarters of all EU

anti-dumping measures in-

volve China and that the

complaints about Beijing

are only increasing.q