HSBC restive again but it surely can’t prefer Hong Kong

YET again, the prospect of HSBC upping sticks for Hong Kong rears its ugly head. And yet again, it feels more like spin over substance.

It’s easy to appreciate why big universal banks might not be feeling much loved in the UK. The Conservatives and Labour continue bashing them, be it through the bank levy, bonus clawback rules or the ritual rotten tomato pelting by MPs on select committees.

Last time this came up, in 2012, HSBC said reviews of the UK domicile had been “postponed indefinitely”.

But fund manager Old Mutual reckons that may no longer be true. Asian investors in HSBC, we’re told, can’t see the point in it being based in what is fast becoming a higher-tax jurisdiction.

Such dramatic upheaval as a Jim Armitage domicile move to the other side of the world can’t really all be about taxes, though. HSBC, which faces investors at its AGM on Friday, likes being based in London because of its status as the world’s financial capital, the reliable UK regulatory and legal system and the helpful timezone for global trade.

Now look at Hong Kong in comparison. Sure, it is a big financial centre, but little more than four months ago protesters were being tear-gassed on the streets. Their crime? Objecting to the Chinese Communist Party’s plans to vet their political candidates. What shape will Chinese intervention in the city and its inhabitants’ lives take in future decades? Nobody knows.

Regulation by London, or regulation by Beijing? I know which I’d prefer. MY LOCAL Curzon cinema in Victoria on Friday night was charging £18 a ticket to see the arthouse flick Wild Tales.

The jaw-dropping price was apparently due to the fact that the theatre only had Pullman seats, slightly larger than usual, with a little plastic tray for your little plastic wine glass. Even more surprising than the price was the fact the movie was sold out. Conclusion: suckers in central London have money to burn.

Today, its arch-rival Everyman, backed by the Kaye family of pizza tycoons, is raising £20 million primarily to buy four Odeons in well-heeled corners of the capital and Home Counties. They’ll cost £7 million to buy plus another £6 million to tart up.

One assumes the refurbs will include Curzon-style luxury to boost ticket prices. And one should expect they’ll be making good money from food and drink.

Still, as unloved Odeons, they’re only making £500,000 a year. Paying 14 times that, plus almost the same again to get them into shape seems punchy. Let’s hope the builders are out before the Bond and Star Wars blockbusters arrive.