JPMorgan Chase & Co, which is in the process of building its presence in China, has told staff to ensure that they do not refer to Taiwan, Hong Kong or Macau as separate nations.
The regions should on first reference be Taiwan, China; Hong Kong SAR, China; and Macau SAR, China; JPMorgan Chase supervisory analyst global manager Stuart Marston said in an e-mail seen by Bloomberg News.
JPMorgan also added a note in its disclosures section to clarify usage, the e-mail said.
The language was not used in numerous prior research notes published over the past few months, though recent reports are incorporating the changes.
Beijing-based JPMorgan Chase spokeswoman Lisa Liang (梁麗華) declined to comment on the content of the e-mail.
International companies doing business in China face increasing pressure as unrest in Hong Kong and the trade dispute with the US increase national sensitivities.
A growing list of global brands, from Versace to Calvin Klein, have been forced to apologize after an army of Chinese Internet users called them out for identifying one of the three as nations.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has been vocal in her support for Hong Kong’s protesters and has seen her support rating rebound since the movement began as Taiwanese voters recoil at the scenes unfolding in Hong Kong.
JPMorgan has led its US rivals in pushing into China’s US$43 trillion financial services industry, seeking to take advantage of government efforts to open up the sector to foreign competition.
It is so far the only US firm that has been granted approval to take a majority stake in an onshore Chinese securities joint venture.
JPMorgan Chase chief executive Jamie Dimon has vowed to bring the company’s “full force” to China as the financial opening progresses.
Dimon on Tuesday said that a weakening outlook for interest rates would dent JPMorgan’s profits somewhat this year, prompting the bank to plan in case rates fall even further than expected.
Dimon cited a variety of headwinds, including Brexit and Hong Kong, but fingered trade uncertainty as the most significant.
Additional reporting by AFP
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