Bank of America reportedly continues to relocate staff from HK to Singapore

Hong Kong is still experiencing talent losses due to stringent measures to control the pandemic. Recently, it was reported that Bank of America will be relocating some of its dealmakers from the city to Singapore despite Hong Kong slowly lifting travel restrictions.  According to The Strait Times, several dealmakers including co-head of Asia consumer and retail investment banking Dominic Tan, and head of equity capital markets syndicate in the region Anastasios Pefanis, are moving from Hong Kong to Singapore. Both of them will be in Singapore temporarily. The report also said director for mergers and acquisitions John Lin and head of mergers and acquisitions for Southeast Asia James Love are leaving for Singapore and Australia respectively. 

In January, it was already reported that Bank of America had started plans of relocating staff from Hong Kong to Singapore due to the city's COVID-19 control measures. Financial Times said the bank’s management was identifying workers who can relocate to Singapore and considering roles in some of its business lines and operations. The report even said although the plan was still in the early stage of figuring out employees who want to quit Hong Kong, the process had started. It added that the management of the bank had described the plan as “contingency planning” and the moves could be permanent or temporary while pandemic control restrictions on travel persist. The number of employees moving to Singapore was unknown at the moment, but it was unlikely that the bank would move the entirety of any of its departments to Singapore.

Last month, the Hong Kong government admitted the city was facing a brain drain due to stringent measures to control the pandemic. While Hong Kong has over the years earned a reputation for being an attractive hub to the expatriate community, in recent times, due to strict COVID-19 measures, many have opted to relocate from the city. According to a South China Morning Post report, chief executive Carrie Lam said to the press that after having a virtual meeting with more than 130 diplomats and business leaders before, she fully understood their anxiety and concerns, adding that the phenomenon of business executives leaving the city was an indisputable fact.

Moreover, travel restrictions in Hong Kong continue to push members of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) away as more than half of respondents said they would leave the city, while the majority of businesses felt the government was “unconcerned” or “dismissive” about business concerns. In its 2022 Business Sentiment Survey Report, AmCham examined a wide array of issues among its members. Around 53% of respondents said the restrictions related to the pandemic had spurred them to leave Hong Kong. Only 10% of them said they were "less unlikely" and "much less likely" to leave the city.

Hong Kong’s international travel restrictions to contain COVID-19 weighed heavily on both company and personal sentiment. With six out of 10 businesses based in Hong Kong as part of the global or regional headquarters, hefty quarantine rules and travel restrictions continued are said to be creating “significant disruptions” in offices outside Hong Kong. Over 30% of respondents had to delay new investments in Hong Kong, and 30% struggled to fill senior executive roles.

(Photo courtesy: 123rf)

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