HSBC delays decision on leaving UK

PanARMENIAN.Net - HSBC has delayed a decision on whether to move its headquarters out of the UK, saying it does not yet know how the government intends to fully implement the recommendations of the Independent Commission on Banking.

Stuart Gulliver, chief executive of HSBC, said on November 9 morning that the bank would no longer be making a decision on its domicile in a board meeting at the end of this month.

The bank now expected to conclude its review within the next 12 to 18 months.

Mr Gulliver said moving headquarters was a "non-trivial issue" and that the cost of the ICB reforms could hit HSBC with an additional annual costs of as much as $2.5bn (£1.6bn).

Stephen Hester, chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland, last month described the ICB's proposals, which will require banks to place a ring fence around their UK retail businesses, as a "done deal".

However Mr Gulliver said their was still uncertainty about what exactly the government intended to do.

"We simply do not have enough information to make a decision at the moment," he said, The Telegraph reported.