It would be a lie if he'd said that. I'm not trying to defend HSBC
but the article actually said:
"He added that ATM card customers can withdraw cash from all HSBC ATMs in the world - except in Argentina, Brazil, France, Greece, Malta, New Zealand, Panama and Turkey - as well as from ATMs covered by the UnionPay network."
For those who haven't set their overseas withdrawl limit, you DO NOT need to do so on an HSBC ATM in Hong Kong. You can do it online very easily, I just did mine a minute ago.