International Banks leaving London

[IMA_FARANG]

I saw a report on a news show about HSBC seriously considering the possibility of moving it's international headquarters from London possibly back to Hong Kong. It also mentioned that Standard Chartered Bank has at least mentioned the possibility of moving out of London, but no suggestion of where they might move to.

One of the factors in considering the possibility of a move was "concern about the future of the Eurozone and a possible referendum in the U.K. on the future of the U.K. in the Eurozone.

Anyone heard anything else about this?

[chiang mai]

The offical line is that taxes and bank levies are too high.

[meatboy]

The offical line is that taxes and bank levies are too high.

also they cant fiddle anymore[YOU ARE BEING WATCHED]

[Jip99]

The offical line is that taxes and bank levies are too high.

also they cant fiddle anymore[YOU ARE BEING WATCHED]

The 'watchers' are not very good at watching and would be better employed buying a lock for the stable door before they start their task.

If you think that the banks can't 'fiddle' you know little about their ability for international creative accounting.

HSBC are simply putting a marker down with this threat and the government has 2 choices.

[JB300]

IMHO, there's a lot of political scaremongering going on about this, with Labour claiming it's because of the Tory plans for a referendum to exit the EU & the Tories claims that its because of an increase in the Banking Levy but as I understand it, HSBC used to carry out a review on where it had its headquarters every 3 years but hasn't done so since the GFC due to the amount of uncertainty around regulations etc...

Now that the regulatory picture is becoming clearer (in particular the UK ring-fencing requirements that need to be in place by 2019) it makes sense for it to review & I dare say move, but I think it's primary reasons are more around it being able to have full control over its UK presence (especially it's HQ) if these are to become ring fenced than the political rhetoric being dished out.

Nb if you look into why HSBC has its headquarters in the UK, you'll see that it was more or less railroaded into doing so by the Bank of England as part of its 1992 acquisition of Midland Bank, obviously the BoE having more of an "Influence" on both sides in those days.

Edited April 26, 2015 by JB300

[Jip99]

IMHO, there's a lot of political scaremongering going on about this, with Labour claiming it's because of the Tory plans for a referendum to exit the EU & the Tories claims that its because of an increase in the Banking Levy but as I understand it, HSBC used to carry out a review on where it had its headquarters every 3 years but hasn't done so since the GFC due to the amount of uncertainty around regulations etc...

Now that the regulatory picture is becoming clearer (in particular the UK ring-fencing requirements that need to be in place by 2019) it makes sense for it to review & I dare say move, but I think it's primary reasons are more around it being able to have full control over its UK presence (especially it's HQ) if these are to become ring fenced than the political rhetoric being dished out.

Nb if you look into why HSBC has its headquarters in the UK, you'll see that it was more or less railroaded into doing so by the Bank of England as part of its 1992 acquisition of Midland Bank, obviously the BoE having more of an "Influence" on both sides in those days.

I imagine that the BoE were grateful for HSBC's salvation of Midland Bank who were in deep doo-doo after the ill-judged investment in, then acquisition of Crocker Bank. That said, the £3.9bn acquisition costs was recovered within a few years.

In 1986 the BoE had already installed it's Deputy Governor Sir Kit McMahon as Chairman and Chief Executive as a condition of under-pinning support for Midland.

I also imagine that HSBC were pleased to find a safe haven ahead of anything going tits-up with the 1997 handover of Hong Kong.

[chiang mai]

Uncertainty over the post handover period was certainly the catalyst for the move, something which HSBC no doubt now regrets.

[JB300]

IMHO, there's a lot of political scaremongering going on about this, with Labour claiming it's because of the Tory plans for a referendum to exit the EU & the Tories claims that its because of an increase in the Banking Levy but as I understand it, HSBC used to carry out a review on where it had its headquarters every 3 years but hasn't done so since the GFC due to the amount of uncertainty around regulations etc...

Now that the regulatory picture is becoming clearer (in particular the UK ring-fencing requirements that need to be in place by 2019) it makes sense for it to review & I dare say move, but I think it's primary reasons are more around it being able to have full control over its UK presence (especially it's HQ) if these are to become ring fenced than the political rhetoric being dished out.

Nb if you look into why HSBC has its headquarters in the UK, you'll see that it was more or less railroaded into doing so by the Bank of England as part of its 1992 acquisition of Midland Bank, obviously the BoE having more of an "Influence" on both sides in those days.

I imagine that the BoE were grateful for HSBC's salvation of Midland Bank who were in deep doo-doo after the ill-judged investment in, then acquisition of Crocker Bank. That said, the £3.9bn acquisition costs was recovered within a few years.

In 1986 the BoE had already installed it's Deputy Governor Sir Kit McMahon as Chairman and Chief Executive as a condition of under-pinning support for Midland.

I also imagine that HSBC were pleased to find a safe haven ahead of anything going tits-up with the 1997 handover of Hong Kong.

Absolutely, marriage of convenience/necessity that worked out very well for both sides [emoji106]

Edited April 26, 2015 by JB300

[Suradit69]

The offical line is that taxes and bank levies are too high.

And of course there is the endemic corruption and continuing scandals.

Banking scandal: 'the rot was widespread, the corruption endemic'

Last week's banking scandals demolished a convenient myth: that the banking crash was all the fault of a few colourful rogues like Fred the Shred of RBS and Adam Applegarth of Northern Rock. We have been reminded, instead, that the rot was far more widespread. Incompetence, corruption and greed have been endemic in British banking. The RBS/NatWest computer failure illustrated the incompetence. Millions of households and firms now have to clean up the mess caused by accidental missed payments, bounced cheques and cash shortages.

The Libor scandal demonstrated deeply corrupt practices at the heart of Barclays Capital, our leading investment bank, and at others too. The public cannot understand how a corporate fine – which will be passed on to customers and shareholders – begins to address the problem.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/jun/30/vince-cable-banking-scandal-coalition

[meatboy]

The offical line is that taxes and bank levies are too high.

And of course there is the endemic corruption and continuing scandals.

Banking scandal: 'the rot was widespread, the corruption endemic'

Last week's banking scandals demolished a convenient myth: that the banking crash was all the fault of a few colourful rogues like Fred the Shred of RBS and Adam Applegarth of Northern Rock. We have been reminded, instead, that the rot was far more widespread. Incompetence, corruption and greed have been endemic in British banking. The RBS/NatWest computer failure illustrated the incompetence. Millions of households and firms now have to clean up the mess caused by accidental missed payments, bounced cheques and cash shortages.

The Libor scandal demonstrated deeply corrupt practices at the heart of Barclays Capital, our leading investment bank, and at others too. The public cannot understand how a corporate fine – which will be passed on to customers and shareholders – begins to address the problem.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/jun/30/vince-cable-banking-scandal-coalition

and dont forget all us travelers that have been swindled by the currency fixing,what about the USA giving some of the record $2.5billion they fined a german bank last week to us poor customers,who have been at the mercy of them -ankers.

[ksamuiguy]

I see Bangkok becoming the New Financial Center for Asia, and dare I say it AEC!

i predicted it ever since HK went back to China.

It will happen, just you wait and see!

Bangkok has the infrastructure now and you can still chew gum.

[JB300]

The offical line is that taxes and bank levies are too high.

And of course there is the endemic corruption and continuing scandals.

Banking scandal: 'the rot was widespread, the corruption endemic'

Last week's banking scandals demolished a convenient myth: that the banking crash was all the fault of a few colourful rogues like Fred the Shred of RBS and Adam Applegarth of Northern Rock. We have been reminded, instead, that the rot was far more widespread. Incompetence, corruption and greed have been endemic in British banking. The RBS/NatWest computer failure illustrated the incompetence. Millions of households and firms now have to clean up the mess caused by accidental missed payments, bounced cheques and cash shortages.

The Libor scandal demonstrated deeply corrupt practices at the heart of Barclays Capital, our leading investment bank, and at others too. The public cannot understand how a corporate fine – which will be passed on to customers and shareholders – begins to address the problem.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/jun/30/vince-cable-banking-scandal-coalition

and dont forget all us travelers that have been swindled by the currency fixing,what about the USA giving some of the record $2.5billion they fined a german bank last week to us poor customers,who have been at the mercy of them -ankers.

And if you were on the side benefiting from the FX rate fixing (which is just as likely as losing from it), will you be giving it back?

Edited April 27, 2015 by JB300

[Time Traveller]

Money laundering criminals fleeing to tax havens. The British government can either walk the talk on the fight against international money laundering, terrorism and criminal gangs, or they can take the dirty money from HSBC and turn a blind eye to their crimes.

Adios banksters, don't come back.

Edited April 28, 2015 by Time Traveller

[meatboy]

The offical line is that taxes and bank levies are too high.

And of course there is the endemic corruption and continuing scandals.

Banking scandal: 'the rot was widespread, the corruption endemic'

Last week's banking scandals demolished a convenient myth: that the banking crash was all the fault of a few colourful rogues like Fred the Shred of RBS and Adam Applegarth of Northern Rock. We have been reminded, instead, that the rot was far more widespread. Incompetence, corruption and greed have been endemic in British banking. The RBS/NatWest computer failure illustrated the incompetence. Millions of households and firms now have to clean up the mess caused by accidental missed payments, bounced cheques and cash shortages.

The Libor scandal demonstrated deeply corrupt practices at the heart of Barclays Capital, our leading investment bank, and at others too. The public cannot understand how a corporate fine – which will be passed on to customers and shareholders – begins to address the problem.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/jun/30/vince-cable-banking-scandal-coalition

and dont forget all us travelers that have been swindled by the currency fixing,what about the USA giving some of the record $2.5billion they fined a german bank last week to us poor customers,who have been at the mercy of them -ankers.

And if you were on the side benefiting from the FX rate fixing (which is just as likely as losing from it), will you be giving it back?

they fixed it for their benefit not ours.

[JB300]

The offical line is that taxes and bank levies are too high.

And of course there is the endemic corruption and continuing scandals.

Banking scandal: 'the rot was widespread, the corruption endemic'

Last week's banking scandals demolished a convenient myth: that the banking crash was all the fault of a few colourful rogues like Fred the Shred of RBS and Adam Applegarth of Northern Rock. We have been reminded, instead, that the rot was far more widespread. Incompetence, corruption and greed have been endemic in British banking. The RBS/NatWest computer failure illustrated the incompetence. Millions of households and firms now have to clean up the mess caused by accidental missed payments, bounced cheques and cash shortages.

The Libor scandal demonstrated deeply corrupt practices at the heart of Barclays Capital, our leading investment bank, and at others too. The public cannot understand how a corporate fine – which will be passed on to customers and shareholders – begins to address the problem.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/jun/30/vince-cable-banking-scandal-coalition

and dont forget all us travelers that have been swindled by the currency fixing,what about the USA giving some of the record $2.5billion they fined a german bank last week to us poor customers,who have been at the mercy of them -ankers.

And if you were on the side benefiting from the FX rate fixing (which is just as likely as losing from it), will you be giving it back?

they fixed it for their benefit not ours.

I know but some individuals will also have benefitted from them keeping the $, ¥, £, € etc... artificially high/low.

[Robert24]

I guess it's a combination of regulation (ring fencing of retail business) that will drive up cost significantly as well as high tax levels. They probably can save a lot from moving their HQ to Hong Kong. And strategically probably a smart move as well given that most growth for HSBC will come from Asia. Stan Chartered is in a similar situation.