NEW YORK CITY (dpa-AFX) - JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon was permitted to forgo Hong Kong's mandatory 21-day strict hotel quarantine rules when he landed at the island territory on Monday. Dimon is the first important Wall Street bank top executive to visit Hong Kong since the pandemic began in early 2020.
The exemption raised several questions as Hong Kong follows a Covid Zero strategy like China and has in place, some of the stringent restrictions to keep the virus away, which include a three-week mandatory hotel quarantine for any resident coming from the UK or US, regardless of their vaccination status, followed by seven days of self-monitoring. Tourists and non-resident visitors are banned from the island territory.
When asked about Dimon's exemption, Hong Kong's Chief Executive Carrie Lam said that he was allowed to skip the strict rules as he operates a very huge bank with key business in Hong Kong.
Lam said, 'He needed to come and work for about a day in Hong Kong. But there are restrictions, including restrictions over his itinerary, so the risk is completely manageable.'
The American banking major said that Dimon would not be spending much time in Hong Kong and the visit was mainly to thank staff for the hard work done during the pandemic and hold meetings with regulators.
While in Hong Kong, the JP Morgan chief executive had told Bloomberg that the territory's strict rules make it harder to bring in and retain talent. The local American Chamber of Commerce had said in May this year that almost 40 percent of its members were planning to leave Hong Kong, given the strict restrictions.
In August, the Hong Kong authorities had also given exemption to actress Nicole Kidman and following which there had been protests from residents whose tax money was being used to pay for the expensive hotel stays.
People commented on the Facebook page of HK Quarantine Support Group that the city is giving the rich and powerful better treatment than long-term residents.
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