HSBC's iconic lions return to bank's Hong Kong office

The two bronze lions by British sculptor WW Wagstaff are named after bank managers, Alexander G Stephen and Gordon H Stitt

A person wearing a protective mask touches a statue of a lion in front of the HSBC's headquarters in Hong Kong on Thursday. Damaged and defaced during tumultuous protests at the start of this year, thShow more

Damaged and defaced during tumultuous protests at the start of this year, the two bronze lion statues standing guard outside HSBC’s main office in Hong Kong have made their return to the public.

The lions, nicknamed “Stephen” and “Stitt,” were unveiled on Thursday following an almost 10-month restoration project after they were splashed with spray paint and partly set ablaze during a mass march at the start of this year.

“Stephen and Stitt have watched over HSBC Main Building for 85 years,” Peter Wong, the bank’s Asia Pacific chief executive officer, said in a statement. “Through good times and bad, they have been an enduring part of Hong Kong’s story.”

Anti-government protests rocked the city for months last year, but have all but disappeared after a new security law and strict social distancing rules were put in place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

The two lions – animals the Chinese believe bring good fortune and prosperity to those they guard – were first placed to watch over its Shanghai office in 1923. They were replicated in 1935 and shipped to Hong Kong, where one was named “Stephen” – after A.G. Stephen, who commissioned the sculptures and served as the bank’s chief manager from 1920 to 1924 – and the other “Stitt,” after G.H. Stitt, its then-manager in Shanghai.

HSBC, which counts Hong Kong as its biggest market, has been caught in a tough spot. The attack on the lions came after the bank closed an account linked to the city’s anti-government movement in November. It has also seen some of its branches attacked.

The lender also this year publicly endorsed China’s new security law, drawing further ire from activists in the city.

The London-based lender’s relationship with China has become increasingly tense over its role in the US investigation of Huawei Technologies.

China is crucial in HSBC chief executive Noel Quinn’s plan to boost profits. Mr Quinn is speeding up shakeup of its global operations, pivoting further into Asia as the lender's European operations lose money and it struggles with ballooning bad debt and low interest rates.