Category Archives: HSBC

Lloyds and HSBC are shedding office space … did they have too much to begin with?

Posted on by

Why there may be more to the announcement of Covid-inspired cuts than meets the eye

Here comes another bank that has decided, apparently definitively, that working practices will not return to their pre-pandemic norms. Lloyds Banking Group says it plans to shed 20% of its office space. Earlier this week, HSBC said it would get rid of 40%.

These figures are so dramatic that they invite suspicion. Have managements really come to the firm view that working from home is so popular that employees’ demands for flexibility must be granted? Or did these banks have too much office space in the first place and now wish to save a few quid?

Continue reading...

HSBC looks to Asia after profits plunge 34%

Posted on by

More executive roles are expected to relocate to home base of Hong Kong as part of Asia shift, where most of its earnings come from

HSBC, Britain’s biggest bank, has recorded a 34% drop in profit for 2020 as it prepares to double down on its operations in Hong Kong and China despite concern about the political crackdown in the former UK colony.

The bank said on Tuesday that pre-tax profit was down from $13.3bn (£9.4bn) in 2019 to $8.8bn in the 12 months to 31 December, while the adjusted profit before tax of $12.1bn (£8.6bn) fell 76% on the year before.

Continue reading...

Human rights and climate crisis give HSBC an image problem

Posted on by

The bank, which is due to reveal its annual results this week, faces more challenges than the impact of Covid-19 on profits

HSBC’s chief executive Noel Quinn has had an unenviable first year on the job. In 2020 alone, Quinn rolled out a major restructuring plan that will involve at least 35,000 job cuts, battled the financial impact of Covid in both Asia and Europe, and steered the bank through a geopolitical storm over its response to democracy clashes in Hong Kong.

Now he is set to preside over the bank’s second straight year of declining annual profits.

Continue reading...

Huawei to seek UK court order to access HSBC records in bid to clear CFO

Posted on by

Chinese company turns to UK high court in attempt to stop extradition of Meng Wanzhou from Canada to the US

Huawei’s battle to prevent the extradition of its chief financial officer from Canada to the US will open a new front at the British high court on Friday when the Chinese telecoms giant seeks an application to access records from inside HSBC in a bid to prove that she did not mislead the bank.

The future of Meng Wanzhou has become a major three-way point of diplomatic and legal tension between China, Canada and the US since she was arrested at Vancouver airport in December 2018.

Continue reading...

HSBC denies taking political stance over China’s crackdown in Hong Kong

Posted on by

Bank’s chief executive, Noel Quinn, claims business not in position to question police requests

HSBC’s chief executive has denied taking a political stance on China’s crackdown in Hong Kong, claiming the bank was not in a position to question police requests when it agreed to freeze accounts of pro-democracy activists.

Questioned by MPs on the foreign affairs committee on Tuesday, Noel Quinn ruled out exiting the Hong Kong market in light of Beijing’s controversial new security laws, saying it “would only harm” local customers.

Continue reading...

British banks under pressure over £45m loans to firm with links to Myanmar military

Posted on by

Campaigners say the deals revealed in new report are a breach of firms’ human rights responsibilities

Human rights groups are demanding that two of Britain’s biggest banks explain why they have lent tens of millions of pounds to a technology company building a telecoms network that is part-owned and used by the Myanmar military.

HSBC and Standard Chartered have loaned $60m (£44.5m) to Vietnamese telecom giant Viettel in the last four years, a period when the Myanmar military has been accused of committing war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. Viettel is a major investor in Mytel, a Myanmar mobile network that, since its launch in June 2018, has grown to become the second-biggest operator in the country with over 10 million users.

Continue reading...

Hong Kong church pastor says HSBC froze personal and charity bank accounts

Posted on by

Church describes act as ‘political retaliation’ by authorities over support of pro-democracy protestors and comes as eight more arrested

The pastor of a Hong Kong church says HSBC has frozen bank accounts belonging to him, his wife and the church’s charity in what he said was “political retaliation” by authorities for their assistance to young protesters.

It comes as police arrest more opposition figures, and a day after the accounts of former legislator Ted Hui and his family were refrozen under police orders, after they left Hong Kong to live in exile in the UK.

Continue reading...

How HSBC got caught in a geopolitical storm over Hong Kong security law

Posted on by

Bank’s future remains uncertain as it finds itself under pressure from Beijing and Washington

HSBC has been a fixture of the Hong Kong economy for more than a century. However, its origins as a financial bridge between Asia and the west have placed it in the centre of a modern day geopolitical storm. Facing pressure to choose sides as Hong Kong is convulsed by the new security law imposed by Beijing and Donald Trump pursues a trade war with China, HSBC is in danger of finding itself without friends in either direction.

Headquartered in London, but dependent on Hong Kong and China for profits, HSBC has been affected by tensions between Washington and Beijing – and shareholder concern over its controversial acceptance of an authoritarian crackdown in its key market.

Continue reading...

Boost for HSBC as major Chinese investor Ping An increases stake

Posted on by

Move halts slump in share price after money-laundering claims and US-China spat

HSBC has received a much-needed vote of confidence from its largest investor after China’s Ping An Asset Management increased its stake in the embattled bank.

The move comes after the lender was caught in the middle of rising diplomatic tensions between Washington and Beijing and as it attracts fresh criticism for its money-laundering compliance procedures.

Continue reading...

UK will ‘bear the consequences’ for Hong Kong decision, China warns

Posted on by

Ambassador to London calls extradition treaty suspension ‘blatant’ interference in Chinese affairs and a contravention of international law

China’s ambassador has accused the UK government of blatantly interfering in China’s internal affairs by suspending extradition with Hong Kong, and led a cavalcade of Beijing voices warning of consequences.

On Monday the UK foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, announced his government would follow moves by Australia, Canada, and the US, and formally suspend its extradition agreement with Hong Kong in response to Beijing’s unilateral imposition of national security laws.

Continue reading...

Barclays, HSBC and Lloyds among UK banks that had links to slavery

Posted on by

Many bank directors received compensation after slavery was made illegal in 1833

The slave trade was abolished in the British Empire in 1807 but it was not until 1833 that the Slavery Abolition Act finally banned the ownership of other human beings. However, 46,000 slave owners continued to benefit financially as the subsequent Slave Compensation Act provided £20m in payments – a sum worth billions in 2020 terms. Despite the name of the act, the former slaves were not compensated.

University College London’s Legacies of British Slave Ownership project shows that 10% to 20% of Britain’s wealthy can be identified as having had significant links to slavery. The amount of money borrowed to pay off slave owners was so large that the government only repaid it fully in 2015. Companies with links to slavery in their past include:

Continue reading...

HSBC to cut 35,000 jobs worldwide as profits plunge

Posted on by

Bank warns of ‘meaningful’ job losses in UK and of impact of coronavirus outbreak in Asia

HSBC has said it will slash 35,000 jobs over three years as part of a major shake-up as it issued a warning over the impact of the coronavirus outbreak in Asia.

The interim chief executive, Noel Quinn, confirmed on Tuesday that plans to cut $4.5bn (£3.5bn) worth of costs would involve slashing about 15% of the group’s global workforce. “We would expect our headcount to decrease from the current level of 235,000 to be closer to 200,000 in 2022,” Quinn said.

Continue reading...

Protesters who demanded Huawei CFO’s release revealed to be paid actors

Posted on by

More than a dozen people outside Vancouver courtroom with ‘Free Meng’ signs were promised C$100 for two hours’ work on a movie

Protesters calling for the release of a senior Chinese telecommunications executive arrested in Canada have admitted they were paid actors, in the latest twist in a closely watched extradition case that has chilled relations between Ottawa and Beijing.

More than a dozen people joined a demonstration on Monday outside a Vancouver courtroom where the Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou is fighting extradition to the US for alleged fraud related to sanctions against Iran.

Continue reading...

HSBC plans to cut 10,000 more jobs worldwide, says report

Posted on by

Bank forced to shed jobs due to low interest ratess, Brexit and global tariff wars

HSBC plans to lay off up to 10,000 staff, more than 4% of its global workforce, as it embarks on a fresh cost-cutting drive, according to reports.

The cuts will affect mostly high-paid roles and come as the UK-based bank grapples with falling interest rates, Brexit and global tariff wars, the Financial Times reported. HSBC declined to comment.

Continue reading...

Ex-Unilever boss seeks ‘heroic CEOs’ to tackle climate change and inequality

Posted on by

Paul Polman also supports Bank of England-backed group promoting disability rights

The former boss of Unilever is seeking a team of “heroic chief executives” to drive a shift to a low-carbon, more inclusive way of doing business.

Paul Polman, who stepped down from the Anglo-Dutch owner of Marmite and Dove in November last year after a decade at the helm, warns that the rise of populism and Brexit are symptoms of capitalism’s failure to adapt. Bosses, he insists, must commit to fighting inequality and tackling the climate emergency.

Continue reading...