Name: SCMP
Telephone: +852-2680-8888

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

knowledgeQuestion

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Enoch Yiu

Brendan Clift

Liz Mak

HSBC’s Asia Pacific chief said riots in Mong Kok during the Lunar New Year did not affect the decision to keep its headquarters in London instead of moving it to Hong Kong and added the banking giant’s decision would not affect its commitment to develop its business in the Asia-Pacific region.
Peter Wong Tung-shun, the Asia-Pacific chief executive of HSBC Holdings, told the South China Morning Post on Monday the decision not to transfer the headquarters to Hong Kong was based on regulatory and business development concerns, and not the riot dubbed the ‘fiashball revolution.’
“Our decision of not moving our headquarters back to Hong Kong has nothing to do with the Mong Kok riot. In fact, UK has (also had) riots recently,” Wong told the Post in a telephone interview.
Wong said the whole idea of studying whether it should move the headquarters to Hong Kong started 10 months ago when the UK implemented increasingly tougher regulations.
“However, after a 10 month study, we found that the regulatory requirements between UK and Hong Kong on the banking sector is similar,” Wong said.
Wong said the business strategy by HSBC of having its headquarters in the UK and the Asia headquarters in Hong Kong has the advantage of facilitating international flows and cross border deal such as ChemChina’s acquisition of Swiss seed company Syngenta, where HSBC is the lead advisor.
“We are very familiar with both the Chinese companies and the European regulation which allow us to capture these cross border transaction,” Wong said.
He said the headquarters issue is now settled and would only be revisited if new circumstances come up.
Watch: HSBC HQ decision 'not without risks'

The unanimous decision by HSBC’s board on Sunday gives a boost to London’s status as a global financial centre, which has faced challenges from tougher regulation since the financial crisis as well as rising costs.
“London is one of the world’s leading international financial centres and home to a large pool of highly skilled, international talent,” Europe’s biggest bank said in a statement following a meeting in the British capital. “It remains therefore ideally positioned to be the home base for a global financial institution such as HSBC”.
“What is important is the decision would not affect our commitment to Hong Kong, China and Asia which in the past years have contributed to our global business,” Wong said.
Hong Kong Monetary Authority chief executive Norman Chan Tak-lam issued a statement on Monday where he said “the HKMA appreciates that for a large international bank such as HSBC, relocation of domicile is a very major and complicated undertaking. We respect the decision of the Board of HSBC Holdings Plc to maintain the status quo.”
“I would like to stress that Hong Kong is the premier banking and financial hub in Asia, with all but one of the 30 Global Systemically Important Banks operating in Hong Kong. We note that The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, which is headquartered in Hong Kong, has all along been the biggest source of profits for the HSBC Group, which will continue to use Hong Kong as the headquarters to grow and develop its business in the Asia Pacific region, including the major business investment plans in the Pearl River Delta.”
The stock market cheered the decision as HSBC Holdings outperformed the Hang Seng in the first half-hour, lifting 3.43 per cent to HK$49.75, investors apparently welcoming the bank’s decision not to engage in a costly relocation and deciding the stock was oversold last week.
“No surprise,” said Hugh Young, managing director of Aberdeen Asset Management Asia Limited, one of the bank’s biggest shareholders.
The decision comes at the end of a tumultuous week for European banks, whose shares have tumbled on fears of a global economic slowdown and the impact on earnings from a prolonged period of low or negative interest rates.
HSBC shares have fallen around 18 per cent since the start of the year and are down more than 30 per cent from last April when the group began the review of where to base its headquarters, hit by China’s flagging economic growth and its ongoing market turmoil.
Investors in HSBC had encouraged the bank to consider leaving Britain, partly because of a tax on banks’ global balance sheets brought in after the 2007-2009 financial crisis.
But in July, Britain scaled back the tax, as part of efforts by finance minister George Osborne to help to keep Britain a “highly attractive” place for banks.
With additional reporting by Reuters


Hong Kong interest rate cut gives small businesses ‘more room for survival’

Hong Kong banks cut prime rates by a quarter point in first drop in funds cost in 5 years

HSBC tops Nestle as world’s best dividend payer while China Mobile leads Hong Kong peers

HSBC’s Elhedery mingles with Hong Kong staff, customers to get first-hand experience

HSBC

HSBC decision to stay in London not affected by Mong Kok riot 

(FILES) This file photo taken on November 24, 2009 shows the logo of British banking giant HSBC in Paris. British banking giant HSBC is to pay more than $600 million to US authorities for its abusive mortgage lending and foreclosure practices in the housing market, officials said February 5, 2016. / AFP / LIONEL BONAVENTURE

A Swiss International plane flies past the HSBC headquarters in the Canary Wharf financial district in east London. The bank announced it was keeping its headquarters in London and turned down a move to transfer those offices to Hong Kong. Photo: Reuters

Hong Kong need not fret about HSBC’s decision to keep its headquarters in London

In this photo taken Tuesday Feb. 9, 2016, the HSBC bank headquarters building is seen in London. International bank HSBC said Sunday Feb. 14, it has decided to keep its headquarters in London after considering a move to Hong Kong in response to tougher U.K. banking regulations. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

HSBC has decided to keep its headquarters in London after considering a move to Hong Kong in response to tougher UK banking regulations. Photo: AP

Update | HSBC decision to stay in London not affected by Mong Kok riot

HSBC Asia-Pacific chief says decision based on regulatory, business concerns