Category Archives: HSBC

HSBC makes £10bn bet on Hong Kong as ‘super-connector’ for China and west

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Deal will mean Hang Seng Bank’s shares are taken off local stock exchange as HSBC doubles down on Asian business

HSBC is shelling out £10bn to take its Hong Kong subsidiary private, in a move it said was designed to take advantage of the financial hub’s role as a “super-connector” between China and global markets.

The deal will result in Hang Seng Bank’s shares being taken off the local stock exchange as London-headquartered HSBC doubles down on its Asian business and snaps up the 36.5% of shares it does not already own.

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HSBC makes £10bn bet on Hong Kong as ‘super-connector’ for China and west

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Deal will mean Hang Seng Bank’s shares are taken off local stock exchange as HSBC doubles down on Asian business

HSBC is shelling out £10bn to take its Hong Kong subsidiary private, in a move it said was designed to take advantage of the financial hub’s role as a “super-connector” between China and global markets.

The deal will result in Hang Seng Bank’s shares being taken off the local stock exchange as London-headquartered HSBC doubles down on its Asian business and snaps up the 36.5% of shares it does not already own.

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UK bank shares tumble after call for windfall tax on lenders in budget

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Investor jitters follow report by IPPR, with stock market value of sector cut by almost £8bn in morning trading

UK bank shares tumbled on Friday, cutting the stock market value of the sector by almost £8bn in morning trading, as fresh calls for a windfall tax on large lenders in the autumn budget spooked investors.

Calls for a tax grab, in a paper written by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) thinktank, took a toll on some of the UK’s biggest high street banks. NatWest Group suffered the biggest drop on Friday morning, registering a decline of as much as 5% in its share price, while Lloyds Banking Group and Barclays followed close behind, falling 4.5% and 3.6% respectively. HSBC dropped more than 1%.

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HSBC boss says Rachel Reeves putting up bank taxes would harm UK growth

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Georges Elhedery’s comments come amid speculation the chancellor could make such a move in autumn budget

The boss of HSBC has joined a growing chorus of bankers cautioning Rachel Reeves against increasing taxes on banks in her autumn budget, warning it risked “eroding” investment and ultimately harming UK growth.

Georges Elhedery, its chief executive, said banks in the UK were already subject to the highest level of taxes on profits compared with other sectors, and paid more than in most other countries. He said placing further financial pressures on lenders could spell trouble for the UK economy.

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HSBC becomes first UK bank to quit industry’s net zero alliance

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Campaigners condemn ‘troubling’ move that follows departure of six of largest US banks after Trump’s election

HSBC has become the first UK bank to leave the global banking industry’s net zero target-setting group, as campaigners warned it was a “troubling” sign over the lender’s commitment to tackling the climate crisis.

The move risks triggering further departures from the Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) by UK banks, in a fresh blow to international climate coordination efforts.

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Ugandan ​​activist​ asks HSBC to put ‘lives before profit’ as campaigners target bank’s AGM

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Patience Nabukalu, who has experienced climate-related flooding, joins protestors from around the world to deliver a letter to CEO Georges Elhedery criticising the financing of oil, gas and coal projects

At nine years old, Patience Nabukalu was devastated when her friend, Kevin, died in severe flooding that hit their Kampala suburb, Nateete, a former wetland. Witnessing deaths and the destruction of homes and livelihoods in floods made worse by extreme rainfall has had a profound impact on her.

She decided to try to bring about change – to do what she could to amplify the voices of those in the Ugandan communities worst affected by the climate crisis.

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HSBC sets aside more cash for bad loans amid Trump tariff war

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UK-based bank warns that trade tensions will lead to lower investment, consumer spending and GDP growth

HSBC has sounded the alarm about the impact of higher trade tariffs on economic growth, unemployment and inflation around the world, as it set aside more money to cover bad debts and reported lower profits.

The UK-based bank reported a $200m (£149m) rise in expected credit losses to $900m in the first quarter, as it increased allowances to “reflect heightened uncertainty and deterioration in the forward economic outlook due to geopolitical tensions and higher trade tariffs”.

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UK banks brace for first-quarter reports after Trump tariff turmoil

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Lenders expected to split into two camps: those focused on domestic customers and those with large operations in the US, China and the EU

UK banks’ earnings reports will be studied this week for signs of turmoil linked to Donald Trump’s tariff drama, with uncertainty over global growth likely to weigh on lenders with heavy exposure to China, including HSBC.

First-quarter profits only reflect the January-to-March period that preceded the US president’s “liberation day” tariff announcements on 2 April. But investors will be concerned about any hints of caution around earnings forecasts, as well as an uptick in money put aside for defaults by tariff-hit borrowers.

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Pay soars at Barclays and HSBC after end of UK banker bonus cap

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One HSBC banker was paid up to £16.6m in 2024 while figure at Barclays was £14.8m after loosening of pay rules

The demise of the UK banker bonus cap has sent pay soaring at Barclays and HSBC where the highest paid bankers have received their biggest payouts since at least 2014.

Analysis of pay documents released this month shows payouts for their most expensive staff surged more than 50% to nearly €20m (£16.6m) last year, after the banks took advantage of looser pay rules and allowed staff to be paid bonuses worth 10 times their salary.

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HSBC net zero goal delayed 20 years, as CEO offered 600% bonus

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Bank is criticised for pushing climate targets to 2050 and watering down environmental goals

HSBC has been criticised after it delayed key parts of its climate goals by 20 years, while watering down environmental targets in a new long-term bonus plan for its chief executive, Georges Elhedery, that could be worth up to 600% of his salary.

The London-headquartered lender said it was reviewing its net zero emissions policies and targets – which are split between its own operations and those of the clients it finances – after realising its clients and suppliers had “seen more challenges” in cutting their carbon footprint than expected.

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Boots says it will ‘draw lessons’ from research into links to slavery

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Report looked into donations to Nottingham universities by Jesse Boot, who expanded pharmacy chain

The high-street pharmacy Boots’s links to the transatlantic slave trade have been revealed in new research that shows how the proceeds of enslavement became entangled with British capitalism.

Jesse Boot, the son of the company’s founder, expanded the chemist with the help of banks and premises linked to slavery. He was not identified as involved in the enslavement of people, the trade of enslaved people or trade in goods made by enslaved people.

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HSBC denies breakup plan as it launches $3bn share buyback

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London-headquartered bank says profits beat forecasts as it prepares to split eastern and western operations

The boss of HSBC has said moves to separate its eastern and western operations are not part of a plan to break up the banking group, as he announced a $3bn share buyback amid better-than-expected profits.

Georges Elhedery pushed back against rumours that a huge restructuring plan announced last week was a sign he was considering hiving off parts of the banking group, which had been under pressure to do so by its largest shareholder, the Chinese insurer Ping An. Investors last year rejected Ping An’s proposals.

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HSBC on hiring spree to drive UK wealth division ambitions

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Exclusive: Europe’s biggest bank hopes to double UK arm of its wealth and private banking operations

HSBC is recruiting hundreds of bankers to serve rich clients in the UK as it looks to head off growing competition from British rivals and take a larger slice of the wealth management market.

Europe’s biggest bank is hoping to fortify the UK arm of its wealth and private banking operations by bulking up its team of relationship managers, who offer bespoke services and advice to rich clients in exchange for lucrative fees.

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Exiled pro-democracy Hong Kong activists blocked from accessing pensions

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Case raises questions about complicity of western financial institutions in persecution of Chinese government critics

Two exiled pro-democracy Hong Kong activists have been blocked from accessing their pensions, depriving them of tens of thousands of US dollars of their savings and raising questions about the complicity of western financial institutions in the persecution of Chinese government critics.

Assets, including pension savings, belonging to Ted Hui, a former pro-democracy legislator who is now based in Australia, were frozen shortly after he fled from Hong Kong in December 2020. The assets are held by HSBC, a British bank.

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Canary Wharf Group to carve chunks out of HSBC tower after bank’s exit

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Revamp of 42-storey block when bank moves out in 2027 will include new terraces and leisure facilities

Canary Wharf Group has unveiled plans to remove large chunks from the HSBC tower as part of a revamp of the 42-storey office block when the bank moves out in 2027.

The property company said it would carve out sections of the tower’s facade to create terraces as part of plans to transform the office block – a skyscraper in the east London financial district – into a mixed-use building that would include leisure facilities and a public viewing gallery.

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HSBC’s Swiss private banking arm breached money-laundering rules, regulator finds

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Finma watchdog says bank failed to carry out adequate checks of two high-risk business relationships

HSBC’s Swiss private banking arm breached money-laundering rules by failing to carry out adequate checks on the high-risk accounts of two politically exposed individuals, Switzerland’s banking regulator has found.

HSBC Private Bank (Suisse) has been banned from taking on any new high-risk customers until it has completed a full review of its business relationships, Switzerland’s Financial Market Supervisory Authority (Finma) said.

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London Stock Exchange CEO honoured in king’s birthday list

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Julia Hoggett awarded damehood for services to business, while HSBC chair Mark Tucker receives knighthood

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The head of the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and the chair of HSBC are among the business leaders to be recognised this year in King Charles’s birthday honours list.

Julia Hoggett, a former banker who has been the chief executive of the London Stock Exchange since 2021, has been awarded a damehood for her services to business and finance.

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HSBC fined £57m over ‘serious’ deposit protection failings

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Regulator says bank failed to properly implement Financial Services Compensation Scheme

HSBC has been fined £57m by the Bank of England’s financial stability arm for failing to protect customer deposits in the event of a banking collapse.

It is the second-highest fine imposed by the Bank’s Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and reflects the seriousness of the failings, the watchdog said. The highest fine was £87m, imposed on Credit Suisse last July.

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Thousands of HSBC customers in UK unable to access online banking services

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Consumers report problems using bank’s app on one of the busiest shopping days of year, Black Friday

Thousands of HSBC customers reported they were unable to access its online and mobile banking services on one of the busiest online shopping days of the year – Black Friday.

More than 4,000 customers said they could not access their accounts via the HSBC app on Friday, according to Downdetector, which tracks and collates website outages and complaints.

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Higher interest rates help HSBC to more than double profits

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Bank criticised by MPs for being too slow to reward savers as it announces 15% rise in net interest income and $3bn share buyback

Higher interest rates helped HSBC to more than double its profits and hand over $3bn (£2.5bn) to shareholders, as MPs criticised the largest UK banks for being too slow to reward savers.

The London-headquartered bank said it was launching a share buyback, and paying a dividend worth 10 cents a share, after what its chief executive, Noel Quinn, hailed as “three consecutive quarters of strong financial performance”.

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