A sweeping national security law imposed by Beijing
is redefining politics in Hong Kong.
The febrile atmosphere in the city
is also making it a less attractive place
for expat bankers, except perhaps for those working
at Chinese banks, which were targeted
in last year's demonstrations.
We've taken a close look whether the political convulsions
in Hong Kong are accelerating the 'mainlandisation'
of its financial sector.
In other words, is Hong Kong's finance sector
becoming more Chinese?
At the end of July, bankers at Chinese firms
totaled more than 2,100.
That's a massive rise from 2013.
At the current rate bankers at Chinese firms
will soon outnumber everyone else.
That makes sense when you consider that Hong Kong Stock
Exchange now outshines New York as the premier platform
for Chinese companies that want to raise dollar funding.
Chinese listings in the US actually grew by a quarter
this year to over 3bn, but the value of listings in Hong Kong
has doubled to more than 18bn.
And Hong Kong's stock market is set
to benefit even more from fraying US-China ties,
as hawks in Washington push to delist Chinese companies that
don't comply with American accounting standards.
A divesting is on the cards for virtually every Chinese company
that listed on Wall Street.
Many have set up secondary share placements in Hong Kong
as a fallback option.
And unsurprisingly, it's the Chinese banks
who dominate those deals and the IPOs
of up and coming Chinese tech groups.
This year, Beijing backed CICC and state run China Merchants
Bank are the top book runners for listings in Hong Kong.
Both have more than one billion worth of deals
to their name so far this year.
The only western bank to break the top 10 is UBS.
Hong Kong is starting to look less like a global financial
nexus and more like an offshore centre for Chinese finance.