HSBC mulls moving headquarters abroad, AGM bloody nose on board pay

"As part of the broader strategic review taking place, the board has therefore now asked management to commence work to look at where the best place is for HSBC to be headquartered in this new environment," group chairman Douglas Flint said in prepared remarks ahead of the bank's annual general meeting.

A return to Hong Kong, which was where the bank's head office was based until 1993, would be the obvious move.

The bank, which regularly conducts such a review, would pay less in UK corporation tax by moving to another jurisdiction such as Hong Kong but would still have to pay the British bank levy as well as taxes on all of its businesses and employees in the UK.

The main benefit of the move would be avoid the banking levy on the rest of its global business.

Shares in HSBC were up strongly on the news, with analysts suggesting this illustrated the weight the levy has on the perceived value of the UK banking sector.

Laith Khalaf at Hargreaves Lansdown estimated the bank levy has reduced the value of UK bank shares by something in the order of £25bn.

"The positive reaction to HSBC’s announcement underlines the downward pressure the bank levy places on all bank shares. This in turn has an effect on UK pension and investment funds, as over £1 in every £10 invested in the UK stock market is in the banking sector."

EU debate aside, HSBC's HQ threat is a bank moaning about a clampdown triggered by a financial crisis triggered by...banks.

— Graham Hiscott (@Grahamhiscott) April 24, 2015

Media commentary was skeptical around the idea of moving headquarters. The Times noted that the threat was "laced with politics and carefully timed ahead of the general election," and would be a blow for politicians of most of the main parties.

"The bank regularly reviews whether Britain is the best place to be, and last time concluded that it was. Whether it will alight on the same conclusion this time around is, as the bank clearly wants us to believe, more nuanced," wrote Miles Costello.

At the company's general meeting, the board was given a classic "bloody nose" in the shareholder vote on director pay but expressed confidence in the bank's leadership.

24% vote against the HSBC remuneration report

— Jill Treanor (@jilltreanor) April 24, 2015

Senior non-executive director Sir Simon Robertson said there were "no plans to change any member of the board...I want to be absolutely clear the board has full confidence in both Douglas and Stuart [Gulliver, chief executive]".

On other business, Gulliver said the Swiss private bank was being cleaned up, with compliance officers doubled, while Flint said the bank had lost appetite for takeovers: "Acquisitions bring opportunities but also risks."

As of 09:43 shares in the lender were 2.74% higher to 628.6p, moving more than 3% higher by mid afternoon.