{"id":815969,"date":"2026-10-28T00:20:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T00:20:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/815969\/"},"modified":"2026-10-28T00:20:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T00:20:09","slug":"hsbc-says-no-pressure-to-move-hq-out-of-uk-despite-prospect-of-higher-bank-taxes-hsbc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/815969\/","title":{"rendered":"HSBC says \u2018no pressure\u2019 to move HQ out of UK despite prospect of higher bank taxes | HSBC"},"content":{"rendered":"

A top executive at HSBC has tried to quash speculation that the bank could move its headquarters out of the UK over tax increases expected to be announced<\/a> in Wednesday\u2019s budget.<\/p>\n

HSBC\u2019s chief financial officer, Pam Kaur, said there was \u201cno pressure\u201d, particularly from shareholders in its cornerstone Hong Kong market, to shift out of London despite lobbyists warning higher tax bills could drive big banks\u2019 business abroad.<\/p>\n

HSBC on Tuesday revealed a 32% rise in third-quarter profits to $9.6bn (\u00a37.2bn), alongside plans to give $2.7bn to shareholders through dividends and buybacks.<\/p>\n

Lobby groups have for months warned that banks could shift business and jobs to rival hubs if threatened with higher bills, with the JP Morgan chief executive, Jamie Dimon, saying he could even scrap plans for a new \u00a33bn London headquarters<\/a> if Britain became \u201chostile\u201d to banks.<\/p>\n

A handful of wealthy businesspeople have already said they are leaving the UK, with some criticising Labour\u2019s tax policies.<\/p>\n

The Guardian revealed<\/a> earlier this month that the chancellor, John Healey, was planning to tax Britain\u2019s banks in Wednesday\u2019s budget. He is likely to reverse the previous Conservative government\u2019s cuts to the bank surcharge.<\/p>\n

\u201cIrrespective of what happens on taxes, we are there to support our customers, and that is what we will do,\u201d she told journalists during a media call on Tuesday. \u201cWe are very comfortable, we are domiciled in the UK and we remain in the UK. So that question is just not on the table,\u201d Kaur said.<\/p>\n

HSBC has a strong shareholder base in east Asia, where it makes the bulk of its profits, and has twice been pushed to shift or split its operations in reaction to UK policies.<\/p>\n

That includes in 2015, when growing regulatory burdens and a new bank levy led HSBC to consider shifting its headquarters out of London to Hong Kong<\/a>. The Conservative government later scaled back the levy to cover only UK-based assets, in a boon to HSBC.<\/p>\n

HSBC later faced pressure to separate the bank\u2019s profitable Asian business<\/a> from the rest of its operations in 2022, amid anger that the UK had forced the bank to cancel its dividend during the first Covid lockdown.<\/p>\n

Kaur gave broad backing to Healey and the prime minister, Andy Burnham, saying the bank was \u201cvery encouraged by the government\u2019s growth agenda\u201d, adding that the bank would \u201cjust have to see how businesses and customers react\u201d.<\/p>\n

The lender\u2019s profit in the July to September quarter was boosted by higher interest rates, lower loan losses and smaller legal provisions compared with last year. However, its UK-listed shares fell 5.4% on Tuesday, causing it to lose its status as the biggest company on the FTSE 100.<\/p>\n

Kaur speculated that investors may have expected stronger forecasts for net interest income \u2013 which is the difference between what banks charge for loans versus what they pay out in deposits.<\/p>\n

HSBC\u2019s net interest income rose to $9.3bn in the third quarter, up from $8.8bn a year earlier. That metric has been a flashpoint for groups campaigning for a UK bank tax, including the Trades Union Congress, which said bank profits have been driven by higher interest rates rather than their own improving performance.<\/p>\n

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However, HSBC said its net interest income grew in the third quarter as a result of hedging strategies and a growth in deposits in Hong Kong, while UK deposits stayed flat.<\/p>\n

The TUC<\/a> general secretary, Paul Nowak, said HSBC\u2019s results still showed banks could comfortably shoulder higher taxes. \u201cSome in the finance lobby have tried every which way to stop tax rises in the budget. But these results make it blatantly obvious banks can afford to contribute more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abhijay Sood, an economist at the New Economics Foundation thinktank, said HSBC\u2019s strong profits would be \u201cdifficult news to swallow for households struggling with rising mortgage costs\u201d.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cLike other big banks, its profitability has depended on keeping interest rates on savings accounts low, and a stealth subsidy from taxpayers via the Bank of England due to quantitative easing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile the rumours of a bank tax change in the budget are welcome, it is unlikely to go far enough \u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cThe chancellor should go further by clawing back the stealth subsidy, and use this to fund inflation-busting investment and keep the essentials of life affordable for ordinary people.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A top executive at HSBC has tried to quash speculation that the bank could move its headquarters out…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":815970,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[84,59,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-815969","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-gb","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/815969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=815969"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/815969\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/815970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=815969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=815969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=815969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}