HSBC building iron ring around Hong Kong base

HONG KONG, (AFP) - Banking giant HSBC has been quietly installing anti-terror measures around its Hong Kong headquarters building as part of a worldwide security review, a media report said Sunday.
Among the measures, the bank has built reinforced concrete flower beds and bollards outside the landmark skyscraper to prevent possible suicide vehicle attacks, the Sunday Morning Post reported.
The hush-hush security upgrade was made in light of the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States and a 2003 attack on the bank's Turkish headquarters by a group linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda terror network.
"After 9/11, all prudent companies probably looked at their security, and we undertook some action," a spokesman told the newspaper.
HSBC's futuristic Norman Foster-designed headquarters had already beefed up security after it fell victim to numerous bomb hoaxes following 9/11.

11/07/2004 - 08:40 GMT - AFP