HSBC trashes claims divi row will see it quit Britain

A boArdroom rift has opened up at HSbC after the bank of England forced it to cancel its dividend.

Some directors are said to be furious at the intervention and suggested the bank should move its headquarters from London to Hong Kong.

one told the Financial Times: ‘For the regulators at the bank of England to put a gun to the head of the board of directors is terrible. This should be a decision for the board to take. We should not be in the UK.’

but a senior source at the bank told the mail it was ‘absolute nonsense’ to suggest that HSbC would seriously consider relocating to Hong Kong.

Insiders said the bank would remain headquartered in the UK even after it was ordered by regulators to cancel its dividend for the first time in 74 years.

HSbC’s location has long been a bone of contention amid claims the bank raises the prospect of leaving the UK to extract concessions on issues such as tax and regulation. but critics said it would be outrageous for the lender to up sticks over the bank of England’s call to cancel dividends in the face of the coronavirus. The bank’s Prudential regulation Authority this week told lenders to axe their dividends and cash bonuses to ensure they have enough money to deal with the crisis.

Lord mann, a former member of the Treasury Select Committee, said: ‘HSbC directors need to play their full role in this war against Covid-19. We backed the banks [during the financial crisis], now they need to back us.’

It is understood there is fury among investors in Hong Kong over the dividend cancellation, which would have handed shareholders £3.5bn in April.

The bank has also been inundated with complaints from its 280,000 UK investors, many of whom rely on the bank’s steady dividend for income.

An HSbC spokesman said: ‘There are no discussions to review HSbC’s global headquarters and no plans to reopen the issue.’