Haitong Intl Securities cuts business with UBS after "Chinese pig" comment-sources

Haitong International Securities

14/06/2019 05:16

BEIJING/SHANGHAI, June 14 (Reuters) - Haitong International
Securities Group  0665.HK  has cut all business ties with UBS
Group AG  UBSG.S  after the "Chinese pig" comment by the Swiss
bank's global chief economist, two sources at Haitong told
Reuters on Friday.
    Lin Yong, CEO of Haitong International, the Hong Kong unit
of leading Chinese brokerage Haitong Securities  600837.SS ,
posted on his personal account on WeChat announcing the
decision, according to a Haitong employee who saw the post. 
    The decision was also announced in an internal email
circulated among Haitong International staff, a second Haitong
employee told Reuters. 
    A flippant reference to pigs in an inflation analysis by
UBS's global chief economist has caused a furore in China, with
some in the financial community rejecting UBS's apology and
calling for a boycott.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N23K34S
    Paul Donovan, global chief economist of the Swiss bank's
wealth management department since 2016, said in a podcast on
Wednesday that higher consumer prices due to sickness among pigs
would matter to "a Chinese pig".
    Lin is also the president of the Chinese Securities
Association of Hong Kong (HKCSA), whose 124 member firms include
offshore subsidiaries of Chinese brokerages and fund houses.
    Lin did not immediately respond to requests for comment by
email and telephone. 
    UBS resent the apology it previously issued without giving
further comments when asked by Reuters about the Haitong
decision. 

 (Reporting by Samuel Shen, Xiangming Hou and Ryan Woo; Writing
by Yawen Chen; Additional Reporting by Cheng Leng, Stella Qiu
and Jennifer Hughes; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
 ((yawen.chen@thomsonreuters.com; +86 10 5669 2126; Follow me on
Twitter https://twitter.com/ywchen1;))