Goldman, BofA bankers stranded by Hong Kong’s Covid flight ban

Goldman, BofA bankers stranded by Hong Kong’s Covid flight ban

Banking















Bloomberg

Executives at banking giants including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Bank of America Corp. are struggling to return to Hong Kong after the city banned flights from eight countries, part of an outlier Covid Zero strategy that’s threatening its appeal as financial hub.

At least a dozen Hong Kong-based managing directors at banks, also including Morgan Stanley and UBS Group AG, are stranded in countries from the US to Australia.

Those stuck include division heads in investment banking, wealth and asset management and other functions.

The flight restrictions are adding to an already fraught climate in the once easy-to-navigate financial center, which has long served as a gateway to dealmaking in mainland China and where most global banks have their Asian headquarters. Even before the latest ban, many incoming travellers had to endure one of the world’s longest quarantines — of 21 days. City officials are now tightening up further to prevent the Omicron variant from spreading as they hew to China’s Covid Zero strategy. Rival hubs such as Singapore are largely seeking to live with the virus.

Hong Kong this month banned flights from the US and UK