HSBC Private Bank’s 6% rise in assets under
management in 2010 has been clouded by news that Swiss regulators
found its Swiss unit breached regulatory provisions relating to the
March 2010 theft of client data.
The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory
Authority (FINMA) said a year-long investigation into the theft
found deficiencies in HSBC’s internal organisation and oversight of
its IT activities that resulted in a serious breach of the bank’s
licensing requirements.
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The investigation stems from the theft of an
estimated 15,000 client accounts from HSBC Private Bank in
Switzerland in March last year.
The details of the Swiss bank accounts, dating
back to 2005 and 2006, were passed to French prosecutors by a
former IT worker at the bank.
The bank said HSBC Private Bank (Suisse) is
currently considering the details of the notice of decision and
actions required by FINMA.
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By GlobalDataHSBC Private Bank
pre-tax profits down 5%
HSBC’s global private banking unit posted a
4.9% drop in pre-tax profits in 2010 to $1.05bn compared to the
2009 financial year.
Client assets at the unit increased 6% in the
twelve months to 31 December to $390bn.
Net new money at the private banking unit
returned to the black with an inflow of $13bn, compared to a loss
of $7bn in the previous year.
The private banking unit’s cost-income ratio
increased by almost 6% to 65.8%, although the figures remain
healthy compared to many rival private banking operations.
Largest bank by assets in the
UK
At group level, the bank posted a profit
before tax of $19.04bn for the 12 months to 31 December, more than
double its profit for the previous year (2009: $7.08bn).
HSBC ended fiscal 2010 as the largest
UK-headquartered bank ranked by assets, overtaking Royal Bank of
Scotland (RBS) and Barclays in the process.
In 2010, HSBC’s total assets increased by 3.8%
to $2.46trn, marginally ahead of Barclays’ total assets of
$2.42trn.
RBS’ total assets declined by 4.5%
year-on-year to $2.35trn.
