Banking giant HSBC has named John Flint, current head of retail banking and wealth management, as its new boss. Mr Flint, who takes over from outgoing chief executive Stuart Gulliver, will start his new role next February.
Lower costs from regulatory fines have contributed to higher profits for HSBC. Pre-tax profit at Europe's biggest lender jumped 32% from a year ago in the third quarter, beating analysts' expectations. Profit reached $6.1bn, up from $4.6bn in the same period a year earlier and above forecasts of $5.2bn.
HSBC executives have been accused by MPs of incompetence for saying they were unaware of tax evasion activities in their Swiss private bank. However Chris Meares, the ex-head of HSBC's private banking division, said he didn't know what staff were up to.
Argentina wants HSBC Holdings Plc to repatriate 3.5 billion dollars the bank's Argentine branch moved offshore to help clients evade taxes and move capital abroad, the country's tax chief Ricardo Echegaray said on Monday during a hearing which took place at the House of Commons in London, where top executives of HSBC were present.
HSBC reported a 17% fall in annual pretax profit and cut its profitability target, saying allegations its Swiss business had helped customers to dodge taxes had brought shame on the bank. Results from Europe's biggest bank reflected the cost of past misconduct and of protecting itself against the impact of further scandals.
HSBC singled out three large markets in the Americas, Brazil, Mexico and the U.S., as problem areas in which its businesses need to shape up or face restructuring, including possible asset sales. “We're talking of 12 to 24 months”.
The US said “dangerous practices” at HSBC allowed the bank to pass money to “drug kingpins and rogue nations”, as it fined it 1.9 billion dollars. HSBC agreed the fine, the largest of its kind, earlier on Tuesday.
HSBC has put aside 2 billion dollars to cover potential mis-selling claims and money-laundering fines as it announces a sharp rise in first-half profits.
Banking giant HSBC Holdings PLC said on Thursday it is in talks on a possible sale of its operations in Colombia, Peru, Uruguay and Paraguay