Hong Kong defends letting J.P. Morgan CEO skip mandatory quarantine because it’s a ‘huge bank’
By Bryan Ke
Hong Kong reportedly allowed J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. CEO Jamie Dimon to bypass strict quarantine protocol for arriving travelers because of the size of their bank and its importance to Hong Kong’s economy.
Special treatment: Dimon spent 32 hours in Hong Kong, where he held meetings with the J.P. Morgan regional chief and thanked the staff for their hard work amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to CNN.
- In a briefing on Tuesday, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam was reportedly questioned on why they allowed Dimon to enter and travel inside Hong Kong without undergoing a 21-day mandatory hotel quarantine.
- “The justification is related to economy, as this is a very huge bank with key business in Hong Kong,” Lam explained, Bloomberg reported. “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.”
- Dimon was “the first head of a Wall Street bank to visit Hong Kong or the mainland” since the COVID-19 pandemic began in early 2020, according to The Guardian. He reportedly flew on a J.P. Morgan private jet to Hong Kong.
- Dimon has an estimated net worth of $1.9 billion, according to Forbes. His annual salary as CEO of J.P. Morgan is approximately $30 million.
Strict health measures: Hong Kong and China are currently pushing a zero-COVID strategy that imposes one of the world’s strictest health measures against the virus.
- The strategy involves border control, swift lockdowns and mass testing after a single person tests positive in an area, NDTV reported.
- As of this writing, China has a total of 98,368 cases while Hong Kong has 12,392, as per Worldometers.
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