Overview
WorldECR quoted Wendy Wysong in an article titled "Act and Counteract: Beijing and Washington Slug it Out Over Hong Kong." The article, published in the July/August issue, discusses the Hong Kong Autonomy Act, which promises to sanction "foreign individuals and entities that materially contribute to China's failure to preserve Hong Kong's autonomy." Hong Kong lawyers say that while their clients are not yet "panicked," there have been some sleepless nights trying to figure how this rapid deterioration might play out.
Wysong, who serves as Steptoe's Hong Kong managing partner, says the concerns of finance and corporate clients are not identical. "Banks are looking at secondary sanctions and facilitation issues, causation, while corporates are looking at shipping actual goods, perhaps sensitive goods. These companies have long-term relationships that can’t be cut off with a keystroke. Some have products that have been in development for years, and supply chains, and those can't be stopped – they've made investments. So probably corporates are looking at the situation with a little bit more intensity, while the banks are saying, 'Well, here's another country we're going to have to tweak our systems to handle.' Banks are used to legislation being drafted at the secondary level of enforcement, while corporates are having to handle primary and direct sanctions. They're all concerned, and this touches all of them, but it touches them in different ways."
The full article can be read at WorldECR (subscription required).
