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[HSBC Holdings]

Derek Yiu

Thursday, June 24,

HSBC Holdings (0005) runs the risk of double taxation under a new British levy on lenders' balance sheets, group chief executive Michael Geoghegan said.
"Our holding company obviously has the consolidated deposits of the whole group," Geoghegan said. "There would be a risk if you have that at the group level."

Banks need to share the pain of tax increases - according to British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne - who announced on Tuesday a 0.07 percent levy on their wholesale liabilities.

The levy is estimated to raise 2 billion (HK$23.17 billion) a year.

"We are seeking some more clarification, but we'd imagine and we hope that it's in regard to the UK bank," said the HSBC chief, noting it is "too early" to comment on the effect on profits.

Asked if it is fair for HSBC to shoulder the burden when it has not sought any government help, Geoghegan said: "It is a little bit unfair to any bank that didn't lend in the way that others did to be penalized, but I can understand why that levy is being raised."

He said the enlargement of the pilot yuan trade settlement program will increase the currency's ability to develop its markets, bringing in prospective investments in yuan securities.

HSBC (China)'s Qingdao branch on Tuesday completed the first cross-border trade settlement since the extension, helping an international trade firm remit money to a Hong Kong-registered partner.

Geoghegan noted there will be "exciting opportunities" ahead.

Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp is looking into launching more new products, including insurances settled in yuan and credit cards, Albert Chan Leung-choi, head of commercial banking, said at the opening of a flagship business center at the lender's Central headquarters.

Mark McCombe, chief executive Hong Kong, said the bank is likely to focus its attention on wealth management products amid the current low interest rate environment.

While HSBC launched yuan trade finance in the first quarter, appreciation expectations curbed demand, Chan said. The lender is now pushing mainland clients to price in both the US dollar and the yuan for local clients to choose from.

On whether HSBC will further raise interest rates for yuan deposits, McCombe said: "The rate is basically dictated by market forces," adding that the current growth in yuan deposits is faster than the demand for loans. While the yuan deposit growth had been stable for a while, there was a great deal of activity in the past few days, he said.



http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=30&art_id=99763&sid=28688474&con_type=1

Not before time, the old git has been ripping money out of the bank unnecessarily for years!

[HSBC]

HSBC is lining up Stephen Green successor By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 10:42 PM on 23rd May 2010

HSBC chairman Stephen Green is likely to leave the bank next year, with investors already being sounded out about potential successors.
Former Goldman Sachs executive John Thornton, who joined HSBC in 2008 as a part-time non-executive director is the bank's preferred man for the job.

Appointing an independent chairman would appease corporate governance mavens.

UK investors have had reservations about Green holding the position of 'executive chairman', working with Michael Geoghegan as chief executive.
Green, 61, is understood to have told the board that he would like to move on, with a view to taking on another senior role elsewhere before reaching retirement age.

He joined HSBC, Europe's largest bank, in 1982, rising to be chief executive between 2003 and 2006 before moving up to be executive chairman.

Green has been tipped as a potential Bank of England governor to succeed Mervyn King, though some friends believe he is more likely to consider a role with the European Central Bank.

Green, a lay preacher, is also chairman of the British Bankers ' Association.

HSBC, which will hold its annual meeting on Friday, said it was 'silly to speculate' on succession plans.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/article-1280721/HSBC-lining-Stephen-Green-successor.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

[HSBC]

Analysts wary after HSBC, Hang Seng results
By V. Phani Kumar, MarketWatch
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Hong Kong shares struggled Tuesday as investors soured on two local bank heavyweights, HSBC Holdings PLC and its unit Hang Seng Bank, after their results from the previous day depressed the broader banking sector.

With several locally listed banks, including BOC Hong Kong Holdings Ltd., Standard Chartered PLC, and Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Asia Ltd. yet to announce their earnings, investors may remain cautious over the interest margins and dividend payouts at the other lenders, analysts said.

Shares of market heavyweight HSBC Holdings PLC (SEHK:HK:5) (NYSE:HBC) were down 6.4% by midday in Hong Kong after it disappointed on Monday with its second-half earnings report. Read HSBC's full earnings report.

Shares of Hang Seng Bank (SEHK:HK:11) (NQB:HSNG.Y) , in which HSBC holds a majority stake, shed 4.5% a day after it reported a decline in full-year profits on a fall in net interest and fee income, and warned interest-rate margins might continue to remain under pressure.

The lender's 2009 net interest margin declined to 1.90% from 2.36%, due to intense competition and the low interest rate environment in Hong Kong.

Hang Seng Bank, known for its high dividend pay-outs, also slashed its dividend to 1.90 Hong Kong dollars (24.5 U.S. cents) a share from 3.00 Hong Kong dollars a year earlier. The bank said the dividend cut would help it preserve capital and allow it to subscribe to a rights issue by China's Industrial Bank Co. (SSE:CN:601166) (NQB:INBL.F) , in which Hang Seng Bank holds a nearly 13% stake.

In a note released Tuesday, Citigroup kept Hang Seng Bank's rating at sell, and slashed its target price to 98 Hong Kong dollars from 107 Hong Kong dollars earlier. In midday trade Tuesday, shares of the lender were changing hands at 109.70 Hong Kong dollars.

"Currently trading at a [dividend] yield of 4.5%, which is near the lower end of the historical range of 4% to 6%, we [expect] the stock will be under pressure as investors' perception of Hang Seng Bank as a stable and high-payout company is now found to be unsupportive," Citigroup analysts led by Franco Lam wrote in the report.

Among other Hong Kong-listed banks, shares of BOC Hong Kong (NQB:BHKL.Y) (SEHK:HK:2388) dropped 1.4%, Standard Chartered (SEHK:HK:2888) (OTHER:SCBFF) lost 3.1%, and ICBC Asia (SEHK:HK:349) (OTHER:ICBAF) fell 1.6%.

"The market may remain cautious on the margin outlook of BOC Hong Kong, given that they are also a very big deposit-gathering bank in Hong Kong," said Dominic Chan, analyst at BNP Paribas.

Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index dropped 0.7% to 20,917.32, dragged lower by HSBC and Hang Seng Bank, although mainland Chinese banks rose to support the market amid expectations that China's People's National Congress may announce a continuation of its growth-oriented policy focus at its meeting starting Friday.

Among the mainland Chinese lenders, shares of Bank of China Ltd. (SEHK:HK:3988) (NQB:BACH.Y) (SSE:CN:601988) advanced 1.5%, and China Construction Bank Corp. (SEHK:HK:939) (OTHER:CICHF) (SSE:CN:601939) gained 0.8%.

Elsewhere in the region, China's Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.2%, Japan's Nikkei 225 Average was flat, India's Sensex advanced 1.3%, South Korea's Kospi gained 1% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.1%.

[HSBC Holdings Plc]

What a surprise!!!!!!!!!!! 

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- HSBC Holdings Plc. is involved in a recent tax evasion case brought against a Virginia-based investor, and has joined the ranks of banks under scrutiny for helping wealthy Americans evade taxes, according to a report Tuesday.


The New York Times reported that investor Andrew Silva pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia to failing to disclose over $250,000 held at a bank using "a sham Liechtenstein trust." Though unnamed in court filings, the bank is HSBC (NYSE:HBC) (SEHK:HK:5) , according to an unnamed source cited in the report.

The case could signify that authorities are now looking beyond Swiss financial giant UBS AG (NYSE:UBS) as they examine banks suspected of setting up controversial offshore services for U.S. clients.

Citing an unnamed person briefed on the matter, the New York Times reported that the U.S. Justice Department has expanded its investigation of banks to include HSBC and Credit Suisse Group (NYSE:CS) .

According to the report, which cited court filings, Silva inherited $250,000 from his mother in 1997, and deposited it into a Swiss bank account held in the name of a the Liechtenstein trust.

In August 2009, when the account had grown to $268,000, Silva was advised that the bank was closing the account, and that he should mail his money home in staggered deliveries from four separate post offices, the report said.

See Story Video here
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/story/print?guid=D6208DE7-09EA-45A5-BA87-693CB398B9E1

Justine is this your Facebook site?

http://www.facebook.com/search/?flt=1&q=hsbc&o=69&sid=100000004914533.168947518..1&s=30#!/group.php?gid=248684175408&ref=search&sid=100000004914533.436862965..1

[HSBC]

Need I repeat myself, you just cannot trust HSBC!

Secret Swiss bank data comes from HSBC bank: Report

1 Feb 2010, 1451 hrs IST, AGENCIES
 
 
BERLIN: A disk said to contain the names of some 1,300 Germans evading the taxman by parking funds in Switzerland comes from British bank HSBC, the Financial Times Deutschland reported on Monday.

The paper said the secret informant was 37-year-old Herve Falciani, an IT specialist from HSBC private bank in Geneva, who last year handed over similar data to the French authorities.

Falciani reportedly wants 2.5 million euros (3.5 million dollars) for the information, which could in turn net the German authorities some 100 million euros, the paper said, without naming its sources.

He was also at the heart of a similar spat between Switzerland and France resolved last week. Falciani had offered data concerning some 3,000 French taxpayers to the authorities.

But Switzerland, which guards its banking privacy laws jealously, demanded the return of the data, to which Paris eventually agreed.

The affair has prompted somewhat of a moral dilemma in Germany, with several politicians saying Berlin should not pay for stolen data. Others argued that the tax revenue that could be recouped was worth the price.

Nevertheless, there has been a precedent: in 2008, the German secret service paid five million euros for data stolen from Lichtenstein allowing authorities to pursue around 1,000 German tax evaders. 


http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/5523730.cms?prtpage=1

[HSBC]

Why is chief executive, Mike Geoghegan of HSBC's move to Hong Kong not considered Tax dodging? Surely he should pay Tax on earnings for the duration of his term in the UK on a pro rata basis.


HSBC chairman hits at big bonuses
By Patrick Jenkins, Banking Editor

Published: January 25 2010 23:26 | Last updated: January 25 2010 23:26

Stephen Green, chairman of HSBC and the British Bankers’ Association, has hit out at the inflated level and distorted structure of bonuses, predicting future pay-outs will be lower and more rationally calculated.

In a video interview with the Financial Times, published on the eve of the World Economic Forum’s opening day in Davos, Mr Green said: “In banks’ remuneration, there’s been plenty of distortion.

“You’ve had bonuses paid off gross income, you’ve had bonuses paid off first-day [profits], you’ve had bonuses paid without any capital charge, and so you can see how that gives rise to the wrong and frankly inflated numbers [we’ve seen].”

Mr Green, a devout Christian, and author of Good Value, a book on the morals of banking through the ages, said the industry “had very good reason to be uncomfortable, looking backwards”. He added: “As this newer environment beds down, I think you will see a market working in a way that we don’t need to be ashamed of.”

The debate about bankers’ bonuses has been stoked in recent weeks, first by the supertaxes announced in the UK and France, levied on bonus pools, then by the announcement last week of bumper Wall Street profits from the likes of Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan.

Both banks cut the ratio of pay-to-revenue from a typical norm of about 50 per cent to 30-40 per cent, partly as they passed on the cost of the UK tax to staff, but partly in an effort to placate the public.

Goldman scrapped cash bonuses and capped pay-outs to its top London staff at £1m ($1.6m).

On Saturday, the FT reported that Barclays would soon unveil a restructured pay programme, with high levels of deferred bonuses, including as much as 100 per cent deferral for up to three years for the bank’s most senior executives.

HSBC, which already defers at least 40 per cent of executive bonuses in line with new regulatory minimums, has signalled no wholesale revamp of its bank-wide bonus structures.

In spite of the crackdown on bonuses in the UK, Mr Green has signalled in private that the bank is likely to pass on some of the supertax to staff, absorbing the rest at the level of the bank.

Mr Green shrugged off suggestions that real damage was being done to London as a financial centre.

He denied that the bank’s recent announcement that the office of its chief executive, Mike Geoghegan, was shifting to Hong Kong, prefigured the possible abandonment of London as HSBC’s headquarters. “We’ll remain legally incorporated in London and have no intention of changing that,” he said.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010. You may share using our article tools. Please don't cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web.

[HSBC]

President Barack Obama’s banking levy could result in a bill of almost £7bn for the UK’s three biggest banks.

It is reported in The Daily Telegraph that Barclays, HSBC, and Royal Bank of Scotland will face a bill of $11bn (£6.7bn) following President Obama’s decision to recoup some of the money paid to US banks during the financial crisis.

The ‘Obama tax’, formally known as the Financial Crisis Responsibility fee, will reportedly bring in revenues for the US government of between $90bn (£55bn) and $117bn (£72bn).

Because of the size of their US operations, Barclays, HSBC, and Barclays all stand to be hit by the proposed levy.

Barclays is believed to face a levy of $680m (£417m) a year for the next ten years, while HSBC is looking at an annual bill of $380m (£233m) and RBS a levy of $90m (£55bn).

[HSBC]

I say go ahead and post it Justine, the worth things that can happen is its taken down. You are only stating a fact, HSBC SUCKS