HSBC is considering moving its headquarters to the US – the country that fined the bank $1.9 billion (£1.3 billion) for breaching money-laundering rules in 2012 – according to a report in the Financial Times.
The bank is reviewing whether or not to leave the UK, as it tries to cope with increasing regulatory and tax demands.
Hong Kong had been high on HSBC’s list of new homes but the Chinese government’s heavy-handed response to stock market crashes earlier this year may have made it less attractive.
HSBC Chairman Douglas Flint told the FT the bank was “about halfway through the review process and had “prepared the ground by giving presentations to the board on the various aspects, like the regulatory and economic framework, but we have not had any discussion of the relative merits.”
