HSBC pledges to fight criminal probe in France April 9, 2015 FRENCH magistrates yesterday announced a criminal investigation into HSBC’s Swiss Private Bank, reviving the row which embarrassed bosses at the UK-based global giant. But HSBC said it would appeal against the decision. The authorities set bail for the bank at €1bn (£724m), a level which the lender described as “unwarranted and excessive”. The investigation relates [...]
French magistrates launch formal criminal investigation into HSBC’s Swiss private bank over tax claims April 9, 2015 Britain's biggest bank HSBC has been put under formal criminal investigation by the French authorities for the activities of its Swiss private bank. In a statement to the market, the bank said it had been informed of the probe, into “alleged tax-related offences” between 2006 and 2007, by the French magistrates. At that time, a [...]
HSBC’s next headache is relocation, relocation, relocation April 1, 2015 If Douglas Flint had a tenner for every time he had been asked about the future location of HSBC’s headquarters, he’d have almost enough to pay its contribution to the bank levy by himself. Flint has many other things on his mind right now: the reputational fallout from the Swiss tax evasion affair, sluggish returns [...]
Bank of England stress test: British lenders assessed against global economic crunch March 30, 2015 Britain's biggest banks have to prove they could withstand a global economic crunch, under a stress test unveiled by the Bank of England yesterday. The fictional scenario is based on real fears that a slowdown in China and renewed recession in Europe could hit the UK economy and its banks. The six biggest banks [...]
Banks are back: How the UK’s banking sector got its mojo back as dividend payments rise March 26, 2015 The UK’s banks are back on form and could be the best place to invest for good and growing dividends. British banks such as Lloyds, HSBC and Barclays were once the best places to invest for solid dividends. Ten years ago, banks provided a quarter of all dividends in the UK market, according to figures [...]
HSBC chairman: Tech firms only want your data March 24, 2015 TECHNOLOGY firms offering payment and other finance services are only interested in harvesting your data, not in providing the service itself, HSBC’s chairman Douglas Flint said yesterday. He warned that this raised privacy and data protection worries, with customer information potentially passed around many more firms. “It is clear many people who want to get [...]
HSBC’s brum do as 1,000 set to move to new HQ March 24, 2015 HSBC will set up a new headquarters in Birmingham for its UK retail bank, when it implements the ring-fence which divide its investment banking operations from its retail work. Around 1,000 roles will move from London to Birmingham before the new rules are implemented in January 2015. The city was home to Midland Bank, which [...]
HSBC to move 1,000 jobs from Canary Wharf to Birmingham March 24, 2015 HSBC will move 1,000 jobs from its Canary Wharf headquarters to Birmingham from 2017, the bank said today. In a statement today, it added that the jobs will be head office roles at its ring-fenced bank. Under rules due to be set out by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), banks must separate their "core" retail [...]
On life, taxes and Osborne’s chance to beat a £20bn target March 18, 2015 If taxes are one of life’s few certainties, then taxes on banks are becoming just as predictable. Just when HSBC thought its lot could not get any tougher, up pops George Osborne with his bi-annual hike to the rate of the charge on lenders’ balance sheets. The chancellor’s final pre-General Election Budget included a commitment [...]
HSBC switches auditors to PwC after decade with rivals KPMG March 18, 2015 HSBC yesterday announced plans to appoint PricewaterhouseCoopers as its auditor, replacing KPMG which had held the position since 1991. Europe’s biggest bank said the appointment would be put to shareholders at its 2015 annual general meeting on 24 April, but that the recommendation was the result of a competitive tender. “The tender process was both [...]