HSBC will make move decision 'in months not years' - BBC News

HSBC says it will make its decision whether to move its headquarters out of the UK within months rather than years. "It's going to take us a few months, not years [to make a decision]," said chief executive Stuart Gulliver. Only 250 jobs out of 48,000 UK-based HSBC employees would be transferred if the headquarters relocated, said HSBC. The review follows plans announced in the Budget to increase the bank levy from 0. 156% to 0. 21%. The levy particularly affects banks with large balance sheets, such as HSBC. HSBC intentionally announced its headquarters review before the UK general election in order to make it "as apolitical as possible", said Mr Gulliver. The statements came as HSBC reported a pre-tax profit of $7. 06bn for the first three months of the year, up 4% on last year. The bank's profits in Europe and Asia, HSBC's biggest markets, increased, while its non-core markets declined slightly. The UK is investigating allegations that HSBC's Swiss private bank helped clients to evade tax. Source: www.bbc.com