HSBC is launching an 'immediate review' into leaving London over heavy taxes
According to Sky News, the giant investment bank is launching an "immediate review" on whether to move its HQ.
Here's a snippet from Sky News:
Sky News can exclusively reveal that directors of HSBC Holdings agreed at a board meeting on Thursday to undertake a review, which is likely to take around six months.
Douglas Flint, HSBC's chairman, will announce at the group's annual meeting that the bank's board has asked its top executives to conduct a full review of its UK domicile...
HSBC is a substantial payer of corporation tax in the UK, but its board has become increasingly concerned that bank-specific taxes and the future shape of regulation are making it uneconomic to remain based here.
Over the weekend a Reuters report suggested that the bank was looking at the move because of an increasingly onerous tax regime against banks.
More on this story as it comes out.