Citadel's decision to ask some members of its Hong Kong-based global quantitative strategies (GQS) team to relocate was part of a global strategy to bring teams closer together and not related to concerns over data security, as claimed in a Financial Times report on Wednesday. 

Refuting the claims, Citadel said in a statement: " In Asia, Citadel's Global Quantitative Strategy business has teams in HK and Singapore. We continue to hire QRs in both locations – if we had data security concerns, we ‌wouldn't ⁠be adding more people to the existing team in HK.

"As part of a global effort GQS had asked a small number of people not just in HK but across the US, Europe and Asia to move to a different office so that they could be in the same location as their teams."

Hong Kong remains Citadel’s largest office in the Asia-Pacific region, with headcount reportedly doubling over the past four years. The city has historically served as a key regional hub for Western banks and trading firms due to its legal framework and financial infrastructure.