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He said that while the “best answer” was to remain in a reformed Europe, the bank had the ability, in the event of a “no” vote, to “move people between London and Paris”.
Flint was referring to the bank’s non-ringfenced operations. The ringfenced bank includes HSBC’s high street operations, which are to be headquartered in Birmingham to comply with the new rules that protect taxpayers from having to bail out banks.
The referendum on Europe, which could be held in June, would have less of an impact on the “holding company” but could impact the operational activities of the wholesale bank, he said.
Flint, who chaired a board meeting on Sunday night at which the decision to remain in London was taken, after a 10-month review, told the BBC that HSBC had forced the government to soften the regulatory regime. [...]
George Osborne made a series of changes which appeared to help HSBC, backing away from creating rules intended to toughen up the regime for holding senior bankers to account.
He also changed the system for taxing banks. A bank levy on balance sheets, which hit HSBC hardest, is being scaled back and analysts have calculated that the changes mean HSBC will pay £300m to the exchequer – down from £1bn under the previous system. [...]
HSBC’s decision to stay in London has been welcomed by the Treasury: “It’s a vote of confidence in the government’s economic plan and a boost to our goal of making the UK a great place to do more business with China and the rest of Asia”.
The employers body the CBI said it was a welcome move but that its also “emphasises the need for the UK to continuously stay competitive on regulation, tax and talent”.