Still, from the perspective of either side, large fines for interest rate rigging by Swiss bank UBS, and money-laundering by HSBC, point to the same conclusion: from now on, banks must protect their reputations as their most valuable asset.
Stephen King and Ian Morris of HSBC point out that growth in consumer spending, total investment and exports in this cycle has been correspondingly feeble.Yet, like Wile E. Coyote running over the edge of a cliff, financial services kept on going.
As Richard Cookson, a strategist at HSBC, points out the gap between the two has grown significantly over the past decade.
HSBC points out that 58% of the levy it pays does not relate to its activities in the UK.
As Colin Gibson of HSBC points out, making lorries is like the capital-goods industry, which relies heavily on aftersales service for profits.
As Stephen King, chief economist at HSBC, points out, real rates have varied a lot since the second world war.In the 1950s and 1960s, real rates were quite low.
It sees $10 trillion being spent during this decade alone.As these green technologies mature and become less risky, HSBC points out, we should expect them to be financed mostly by bonds not equity.
As Andrew Keen of HSBC points out, if Rio was attractive to BHP when it had debts of $40 billion why would it not be now?As the benefits of diversification ebb, the benefits of scale are growing.
But it may not be so helpful for the high-yield market since frackers have been big issuers of debt; HSBC points out that 16% of the US market is now energy-related.
An indifference to high returns, and a susceptibility to meddling by politicians, have tended to skew lending to fit regional objectives, seeing off private competition.Under existing Basel rules, as Tobias Grün of HSBC points out, the Landesbanken may include a higher proportion of dated hybrid instruments in their tier-one capital than other banks.
Stuart Gulliver, the new chief executive of HSBC, pointed out the bank had stopped selling PPI in 2007 – others carried on until last year – to explain the lower than expected charge, which he stressed, was not because the bank intended to be "hard-arsed" about potential claims.
