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By Yimou Lee and James Zhang
HONG KONG, June 13 (Reuters) - Multinational companies andfinancial institutions in Hong Kong are drawing up emergencyplans in the event of a partial shutdown of the financial hub'sbusiness district this summer due to a planned pro-democracyprotest.
Activists have threatened to lock down the Central area ofHong Kong, home to some of Asia's biggest companies and banks,as part of a campaign for the right to choose candidates for apoll in 2017 to elect Hong Kong's next leader.
Democracy protests over the past year have stoked frictionand unnerved Beijing leaders fearful of an opposition democrattaking the city's highest office.
Concerns about growing discontent and the threatened closureof city's business district by the so-called Occupy Centralactivists have prompted companies and financial authorities toprepare for the worst.
Protest organisers hope to draw tens of thousands to theirmovement, but no date or specifics have yet been announced ontheir action. The protest could start as early as July 1.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), the de factocentral bank, said it would carry out a "business continuityplanning drill" shortly with member banks to "protect thecritical areas of their business and to cope with disruptions".
Rhonda Lam, a spokeswoman at the HKMA, declined to confirmhow many banks were involved or whether the drill was directlyrelated to Occupy Central, but said it would address the"inaccessibility of banks' headquarters or offices due to anypossible events that may happen in Central".
BEIJING ISSUES WARNING
The thorny issue of political reforms has continued to dogthe former British colony that reverted to Chinese rule in 1997amid promises to grant the free-wheeling capitalist hubbroad-ranging autonomy, pitting a feisty oppositionpro-democracy movement against Beijing's conservative CommunistParty leaders.
On Tuesday, China published a report warning Hong Kong thatthere were limits to its freedom and it should adhere strictlyto the law, in what was seen as a veiled threat.
The Occupy Central organisers have stressed, however, thattheir civil disobedience movement is "non-violent" and motivatedlargely by China's refusal to allow a truly fair election in2017 that would include opposition democrats.
Hong Kong's incumbent pro-Beijing leader Leung Chun-ying haswarned such a protest would be illegal and won't be tolerated.
Protesters have demanded full democracy in 2017, with a keycondition being the open nominations of candidates so thatanyone, including China critics, can run for office.
But Beijing has rejected that, citing the city'smini-constitution that states all nominees must be endorsed by a1,200-strong election committee, which is stacked with Beijingloyalists.
CONTINGENCY PLANNING
The head of property-to-retail conglomerate Wharf Holdings, Peter Woo, as well as Hong Kong's second wealthiestperson, property mogul Lee Shau-Kee of Henderson Land,have cautioned that any paralysis of the main business hub woulddamage the city's reputation.
The Hong Kong Bankers Club, whose members include most ofthe city's major banks, said it would have a contingency plan inplace before July 1. The private club, along with other tenantsincluding Italian luxury fashion group Prada andauditor PricewaterhouseCoopers, have been advised by landlordHongkong Land Holdings Ltd to be prepared for trouble.
New World Development Company Ltd, another majorlandlord in Central, also has in place "contingency measures toensure that its critical operation is maintained and thatdisruption to its normal business is kept at a minimum".
Across the street at the headquarters of HSBC , the bank has begun to "stress-test" its systemscapability for staff to work from home.
It sent an email to staff urging as many people as possibleto work away from the office during a weekend to prepare for theeventuality that the headquarters might be blockaded, said asenior banker who declined to be named as he was not authorisedto speak to the media.
"It is possible that protests and marches will occur inCentral on 1 July 2014 and that, depending on the situation,HSBC Main Building and its operations may be impacted in thefollowing days," according to an internal email seen by Reuters.
The potential impact on the Hong Kong stock exchange, HongKong Exchanges and Clearing, on the harbourfrontfringe of Central, would be minimal even if the protests spreadto its doors, with 0.16 percent of turnover carried out on theactual trading floor, a spokesperson for HKEx said. (Additional reporting by Lawrence White,; Writing by JamesPomfret; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)
