Japanese Brokerage SBI Weighs Leaving Hong Kong Amid Turmoil

(Bloomberg) -- SBI Holdings Inc. may become the first major Japanese financial firm to withdraw from Hong Kong following the political turmoil there.

Japan’s biggest online brokerage is considering pulling out of the city by as soon as March on the view that the recently enacted national security law has eroded its attraction as a financial center, spokesman Shoichi Okayasu said by phone. SBI Holdings has fewer than 100 employees in the Chinese territory.

SBI’s stance reflects growing concern among international companies that the new law will diminish Hong Kong’s autonomy and fuel tensions between China and the U.S. More than a third of Japanese firms operating in the city are either reviewing their presence there or thinking about doing so, according to a recent survey published by the Japan External Trade Organization.

Okayasu declined to say where SBI may move its Hong Kong business, which includes a local brokerage, if it opts to leave the area. Chief Executive Officer Yoshitaka Kitao is looking to help establish an international financial hub in the Kansai region in western Japan.

The Nikkan Kogyo newspaper reported SBI’s plans earlier.

Another Japanese brokerage, Daiwa Securities Group Inc., has signaled that it may accelerate plans to scale back its operations in Hong Kong if the tension there worsens significantly.

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