HSBC has revealed plans to quit London for Hong Kong and it seems to be due to combination of factors: higher UK taxes & costs and of course regulation. On the matter of taxes my information is that moving to Hong Kong could deliver a 30pc premium to the HSBC share price overnight as operating expenses had soared to $37.7bn in the last financial year (a rise of 9.6pc on the previous one) and payroll taxes have risen as well. Meanwhile Britain's capital requirements are now amongst the toughest in the world and the introduction of the Basel III regulations from 2013 will raise the bar even higher. HSBC believe that the more relaxed capital requirements in Hong Kong would cost the company less and allow them to generate more profit by making greater use of its balance sheet.
Maybe Boris Johnson was right, maybe the UK does need to do more to keep big City banks in The City. Do David Cameron and George Osborne realise how much Corporation Tax HSBC pays in the UK, how much PAYE and NIc is paid by the bank's staff and how much money the bank's employees put into the UK and especially London economy?
Maybe Boris Johnson was right, maybe the UK does need to do more to keep big City banks in The City. Do David Cameron and George Osborne realise how much Corporation Tax HSBC pays in the UK, how much PAYE and NIc is paid by the bank's staff and how much money the bank's employees put into the UK and especially London economy?
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