CEO is making a surprise exit after successfully slimming down the global bank and winning over its tough chair

HSBC’s chief executive, Noel Quinn, is seen by many as ending his five-year tenure on a high note. The 62-year-old stunned the banking world this week by saying he planned to retire after an “intense” five years in the role to get a better work-life balance .

Quinn has slimmed down a sprawling global bank, paid out $19bn (£15bn) to shareholders last year and successfully staved off calls to break up the lender.

Continue reading...

Changes will apply to hundreds of staff who will be able to earn up to 25 times their salaries in bonuses

Goldman Sachs has told hundreds of its top UK bankers that it is eradicating a cap on bonuses, in a move that will allow its star performers to earn up to 25 times their annual salary.

Richard Gnodde, chief executive of Goldman Sachs International, made the announcement during a video message to staff on Thursday. It comes months after UK regulators confirmed they were formally scrapping EU rules that previously limited bonuses to twice an individual’s base salary. UK lenders including HSBC , Barclays and NatWest are planning to follow suit.

Continue reading...

The pandemic accelerated the shift away from notes and coins. But China and others are realising that transition has a price

One of the idiosyncrasies of China’s huge appetite for luxury goods has been the high sales of man bags – a niche item in the west. Their popularity initially reflected not just the fondness of the newly rich for conspicuous consumption, but also the practical need to carry large wodges of banknotes in a country that hadn’t truly embraced credit cards. Early last decade, it was unremarkable to pay a quarter’s rent or buy a car in cash.

Yet even vegetable sellers in small markets, or people begging on the streets, now use QR codes. By 2020, 98% of people in a survey said they most commonly paid using smartphone apps. The advantage, for the consumer, is convenience. For the authorities it offers not only efficiency but oversight, in a country which is battling corruption and which closely surveils its citizens. Beijing has also been promoting a “digital yuan” developed by its central bank.

Continue reading...

Shareholder payouts grew 14 times faster than wages over past three years, says Oxfam report

Shareholders have proved to be more successful at securing bumper payouts than workers have at winning higher pay, according to two studies that show dividends outstripping wages by a considerable margin in recent years.

Oxfam said analysis of global data showed that dividend payments to shareholders over the last three years grew an average of 14 times faster than worker pay across 31 major economies.

Continue reading...

Chief executive’s departure sounds sensible enough but successor will inherit heavy strategic workload

Chief executives at HSBC, like those at Barclays, have had a habit in recent years of leaving in dramatic circumstances. The last one, John Flint, was ousted by a chairperson, the current incumbent Mark Tucker, who had appointed him only 18 months earlier. Going back to 2010, Michael Geoghegan was summoned to the Goring hotel to be told he wouldn’t be following the traditional cosy path to the chairperson’s office and therefore should decide if he wanted to stay as chief executive; he quit .

By contrast, Noel Quinn’s announcement of his exit came with fewer fireworks. Or, at least, his explanation was easy to follow. Quinn says the past few years have been “intense” and he would rather do something else, such as find “a better balance between my personal and business commitments”. Since he’s 62, has been at HSBC for 37 years and has earned more money (£10.6m last year) than he probably ever thought possible when he joined the old Midland bank, getting out seems perfectly sensible.

Continue reading...

Bank says it has started search for a successor as it reports quarterly profits beat forecasts

• Business live – latest coverage

The chief executive of HSBC, Noel Quinn, is unexpectedly stepping down after an “intense” five years in the role, as the bank reported better-than-expected profits.

Europe’s largest bank has kicked off a search for a successor and said Quinn, 62, will stay in the post until a new chief executive is found. He joined the bank in 1987.

Continue reading...

For first time since August 2021 people expect position to be better in a year, Paul Thwaite adds

Consumer confidence is bouncing back in the UK, with people predicting a brighter financial future for the first time in two years, NatWest has said.

Paul Thwaite, the bank’s chief executive, said easing price pressures as inflation comes down seemed to be feeding through to the general public. Headline consumer price inflation is still above the Bank of England’s 2% target at 3.2% but has fallen sharply from a peak of 11.1% in October 2022. Natwest’s own economic forecast suggests inflation will fall to 2.5% by the end of this year.

Continue reading...

Credit card holders who make minimum repayments warned they could be in debt for years longer

Some Barclaycard customers who only make the minimum repayment each month will take an extra decade to clear their debt and pay hundreds of pounds in extra interest after the credit card provider changed its terms.

Barclaycard – thought to be the UK’s biggest credit card provider – has written to customers telling them it is cutting their minimum payments to give them “more flexibility”.

Continue reading...

Pre-tax profits drop to £2.3bn between January and March, down from £2.6bn last year

• Business live – latest updates

Profits at Barclays tumbled 12% in the first quarter, as higher UK interest rates weighed on demand for mortgages and loans and its investment bank was hit by a backdrop of economic uncertainty.

The UK bank said pre-tax profits fell to £2.3bn in the first quarter, down from £2.6bn last year, when it reported the strongest quarterly profit since 2011 after a string of interest rate hikes by the Bank of England.

Continue reading...