This tells you something about
HSBC, they talk the talk but don't walk the walk, have they tried top down managment approach? Only its getting watered down when it gets to street level. See my inserted comments in RED.
Crisis Far From Over
By Vladimir Guevarra, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
(Rewrites throughout.)
LONDON -(Dow Jones)-
HSBC Holdings PLC (HBC) Chairman Stephen Green said Tuesday that the "financial crisis is still far from over" and urged bankers to regain trust from customers and society as a whole.
(Lets see if this translates into customer service at last!)"We cannot even say that we're past the worst or (that) the way out of the woods is clear," he said.
(No shit Sherlock!)Green said there are still global macro-economic imbalances, loose credit conditions and dangerous overtrading in parts of the financial sector, among other problems.
(Have we seen HSBC laying off traders? No only support staff, a case of Do as I say not as I do)He said these led to a "
massive breakdown of trust" in the financial system, in bankers, in business, in politicians and in globalization.
(Could not agree with you more, did you look in the mirror this morning? oh thats right you can't see yourself in the mirror you blood sucking vampire)Speaking at a British Bankers Association conference in London, he said the banking industry needs to restore that trust as well as confidence from customers.
Green said that "rebuilding trust is partly a matter of effective rules and guidance" and welcomed the U.K. government's review of financial regulation through the Turner Review and that of corporate governance of banks through the Walker Review.
Still, rules and guidelines "cannot in themselves be sufficient," he said.
"Unless we think more widely about our responsibilities, we will not have sustainable business models and indeed we risk losing sight of the very raison d'etre of banking."
(Thats right when in doubt use French idioms)This reason for being, he said, "is to provide financial services on a sustainably profitable basis to our customers."
(I think you mean shareholders who pay your over prices arse to sit on a chair, you clearly don't give a shit about customers otherwise sites like this would not exist)He said rebuilding trust "means focusing on long-term customer relationships, not just the next transaction. Because it implies ensuring responsibility in trading, ensuring that management tests the suitability and transparency of products that are sold or transactions undertaken, not just their profitability."
(Transparency should begin within the bank itself)Green, who is chairman of the BBA, also said that a "resurrected Glass- Steagall model, if you will, would be totally unrealistic." This refers to calls to separate retail banking from investment banking.
(By seperating you mean disjointing them completely, would this increase your service level to the retail who pump funds itno your bank so you can rip others off on overnight rates?)Last month, Vince Cable, shadow chancellor of the U.K.'s Liberal Democratic party, said momentum is building in political circles in favor of separating retail banking operations from investment banking operations.
Splitting banks into so-called "utility" banks, offering standard bank services to retail and commercial customers, and "casino" banks, that are active in trading and offer investment banking services, would somewhat mirror the Glass-Steagall model, an act passed by the U.S. Congress in 1933, which prohibited a retail bank from owning other financial institutions such as investment banks. That act was repealed in 1999.
"In this age of markets that are interconnected across both geography and product, it is a fantasy to believe that 'narrow banking' is the way to predictability and stability," Green said.
(Quelle suprise!, oops sorry idiom)Customers today need an increasingly wide range of financial services and shouldn't be forced to go to different types of banks for different services, he said.
Green said that "the notion that the failure of a bank can be 'contained' by the conventional legal and administrative processes for handling business failures is nonsense."
(At last we agree on something for hte right reasons)"And it would still be nonsense even if the institution was wholly involved in the wholesale markets, had no direct retail presence, and did not have the benefit of any deposit guarantees."
He said this is the lesson from the failure of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. ( LEH).
Company Web site:
www.hsbc.com-By Vladimir Guevarra, Dow Jones Newswires. +44 (0) 2078429486,
vladimir.guevarra@dowjones.com (END) Dow Jones Newswires
06-30-091021ET
Copyright (c) 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
