Left bankless because of US sanctions, Lam says she has piles of cash

US has said any bank in biz with her will lose access to the US financial system

Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam says that she has “piles of cash” at home because she is denied basic banking services due to US sanctions.
 
In a television interview, Lam said the Hong Kong government has to pay her in cash because she does not have a bank account following sanctions imposed by the US on her and other officials for what it called their role in undermining Hong Kong’s autonomy from mainland China, including imposing a national security law on the city at the end of June.
 
“Sitting in front of you is a chief executive of the Hong Kong SAR (special administrative region) who has no banking services made available to her,” Lam told Hong Kong International Business Channel. “I’m using cash every day, for all the things. I have piles of cash at home because the government is paying me cash for my salary because I don’t have a bank account.”

 

US President Donald Trump imposed the sanctions in August on Chinese and Hong Kong officials including Lam; Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of China’s State Council; and Chris Tang, commissioner of the city’s police. Among other things, the sanctions mean any banks that do business with them risk penalties that would threaten their access to the US financial system. Even China’s largest state-run banks operating in Hong Kong have had to comply to preserve their access to crucial dollar funding.