One of HSBC’s largest investors has said that it and many others would support the bank if it decided to leave the country, as it now faces an uncertain fog of regulation.
David Cumming, head of equities at Standard Life, said that HSBC could be “very, very close to losing patience”, as regulators continue to increase the burden on lenders.
“Obviously we need stress tests, and banks should have prudent capital,” Mr Cumming said. But regulators had engaged in a “never ending process” of continually bludgeoning banks as they approach the last target set for them, he said.
They are continually “moving the goalposts”, Mr Cumming said. If HSBC did decide to move, “I think a lot of shareholders ? would be supportive of that, given the current situation in terms of regulation”, he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.
Standard Life is the 12th biggest shareholder in HSBC, and holds a 1.06pc stake in the bank according to Bloomberg data.
Mr Cumming said: “Given the situation, where there is no clear end point in terms of ever increasing capital requirements, and the fact that they are being put at a competitive [dis]advantage, and the fact that we will see better growth, earnings and dividend prospects unless the regulator changes tack then logically we would be supportive of a move if they chose to do that.”
HSBC has considered moving its headquarters east on numerous occasions before, eyeing a possible relocation to Asia. More recently, the bank has considered packing its bags and heading across the Atlantic to the US, it was reported last month.
Douglas Flint, HSBC’s chairman, told the Financial Times that the bank was “about halfway through the process” of looking into moving its HQ. However, given the size of HSBC’s profits from the region and its historic links to the country, Hong Kong is still thought to be the leading alternative to London.
HSBC is due to make a decision on whether to relocate from the UK by the end of the year.