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☆ HSBC apologises as thousands of UK customers locked out of digital banking
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-24 | by ( Lawrence White | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A man speaks on a mobile phone in front of the head office of HSBC bank in Mumbai November 20, 2008. REUTERS/Arko Datta/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Thousands of HSBC (HSBA.L) customers in Britain on Friday reported they were unable to access some mobile and online banking services, the latest in a long-running series of such problems for British banks. "We’re working hard to restore HSBC UK’s Mobile and Online Banking service, including the authorising of online card purchases via the app," a spokesperson for the bank said. "We understand this is really frustrating for some of our customers, and we are really sorry for the inconvenience." "This HSBC outage will cause a real headache for a lot of its customers.

Persons: Arko Datta, Sam Richardson, Lawrence White, Hugh Lawson, Louise Heavens Organizations: HSBC, REUTERS, HSBC UK’s Mobile, Banking, Consumer, Bank of England, Thomson Locations: Mumbai, Britain

☆ Mastercard launches global plan to recycle credit cards
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( Simon Jessop | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Under the plan, Mastercard will provide shredding machines to HSBC, each of which is capable of holding 10,000 cards, equivalent to 50 kg (110 pounds) of plastic. Once full, it will be transferred to a plastic recycling facility. The pilot project, which will run for an initial six months, will allow customers to recycle any plastic card, including those from rivals. Currently, Mastercard said it has around 3.1 billion cards in circulation. Each year, it estimates around 600 million cards are produced by the industry, each with a life span of around five years.

Persons: Ajay Bhalla, Jose Carvalho, Nilson, Simon Jessop, Tommy Reggiori Wilkes, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: HSBC Mastercard, Payments, Mastercard, Wednesday, HSBC Holdings Plc, Mastercard Inc, HSBC, HSBC UK, Thomson Locations: Britain

☆ UK homeowners brace for more mortgage pain as borrowing costs shoot up
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

London CNN —Existing and aspiring UK homeowners are bracing for a fresh wave of misery as a rise in benchmark borrowing costs threatens to push up monthly mortgage payments. The yield on the country’s two-year government bonds — which is used to set interest rates on mortgages — jumped to 4.87% on Tuesday. The figures have pointed to persistent inflationary pressures, increasing the chances of more interest rate hikes by the Bank of England and driving up gilt yields. “We’ve had to reflect that in our mortgage rates,” the spokesperson said. “[UK inflation] is a chronic problem, and it’s not something that you can deal with quickly.”

Persons: Liz Truss, Craig, Samuel Tombs, “ We’ve, Paul Dales, “, Truss, Henry Nicholls, ”, Ed Al Organizations: London CNN, Bank of England, Royal London Asset Management, CNN, Pantheon, UK Finance, HSBC, HSBC UK, Capital Economics, Reuters, Columbia Threadneedle Investments Locations: United Kingdom, Europe, United States

☆ HSBC builds innovation division from the bones of collapsed SVB UK
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Ruxandra Iordache | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

U.K. banking titan HSBC unveiled a new HSBC Innovation Banking unit Monday, as it seeks to push into the technology sector following its eleventh-hour rescue of the U.K. subsidiary of failed Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in March. HSBC acquired the London-based SVB unit for £1 after its parent company suffered a run on its assets fueled by customer fears over the bank's solvency. SVB was one of several U.S. and European lenders that met their downfall earlier this year as broader turmoil rattled the global banking sector. The U.K. government and Bank of England facilitated the purchase in a bid to protect deposits, as Britain separately struggles to retain its position as an international tech capital. Some have questioned whether traditional financial institution HSBC is well placed to take over the legacy of SVB and finance tech-focused startups and small businesses.

Persons: SVB, Ian Stuart, CNBC's Arjun Kharpal Organizations: HSBC, HSBC Innovation Banking, Bank, Bank of England Locations: London, Britain

☆ HSBC says rebranded Silicon Valley Bank UK will maintain startup focus while targeting global growth
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Jenni Reid | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Silicon Valley Bank UK will continue to serve startup businesses from "seed funding to IPO," the chief executive of its new owner, HSBC UK, said Tuesday. "We're going to protect what we've got," Ian Stuart told CNBC's Arjun Kharpal at the Money20/20 fintech conference in Amsterdam. "We are going to keep it ringfenced within our own ringfenced bank, it will have its own board, it will have its own risk policies, we are going to protect what it's got today." HSBC UK bought the London-headquartered subsidiary of Silicon Valley Bank for £1 ($1.21) in March after its U.S. parent company collapsed. Despite not having a major customer base in the U.K., hundreds of founders and VCs said the bank's failure would be highly damaging to the tech sector, and the government stepped in to facilitate a deal over the course of a weekend.

Persons: we've, Ian Stuart, CNBC's Arjun Kharpal, it's, VCs Organizations: Valley Bank, HSBC, HSBC UK, London, Silicon Valley Bank Locations: Amsterdam, Silicon

☆ We're going to protect what we've got in Silicon Valley Bank UK, new owner HSBC says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailWe're going to protect what we've got in Silicon Valley Bank UK, new owner HSBC saysIan Stuart, chief executive of HSBC UK, discusses plans for the rebranded Silicon Valley Bank UK following its hurried March takeover.

Persons: we've, Ian Stuart Organizations: Silicon Valley Bank UK, HSBC, HSBC UK, Valley Bank UK Locations: Silicon Valley

☆ A Movement to Make Workplaces ‘Menopause Friendly’
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Sharon Otterman | Yana Paskova | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A new movement to create “menopause-friendly workplaces” is catching on, beginning in Britain, where menopausal women are believed to be the fastest growing work force demographic. More than 50 British organizations, including HSBC UK, Unilever UK, and the soccer club West Ham United, are now are certified as “menopause-friendly” though an accreditation developed by Henpicked: Menopause in the Workplace, a British professional training firm. One recent poll estimated that three in 10 workplaces in Britain now have some kind of menopause policy in place. There is even an awards ceremony, held in London, for the most menopause-friendly companies. New York City Mayor Eric Adams promised earlier this year “to change the stigma around menopause in this city,” and to “create more menopause-friendly workplaces for our city workers through improving policies and our buildings.”

☆ HSBC UK Bank CEO explains how UK arm of Silicon Valley Bank was bought for £1
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailHSBC UK Bank CEO explains how UK arm of Silicon Valley Bank was bought for £1Ian Stuart, CEO of HSBC UK Bank, shares his insights on the process of the acquisition.

☆ HSBC bought Silicon Valley Bank UK in record time — here's how events unfolded
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Silvia Amaro | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

HSBC came to the rescue of Silicon Valley Bank UK in a crucial deal for the whole banking sector. Silicon Valley Bank — a U.S. lender with clients mostly in the tech and health-care startup world — was deemed insolvent by American regulators on Friday. Consequently, the Bank of England announced Friday that, "absent any meaningful further information," it would be placing Silicon Valley Bank UK into an insolvency procedure. More than 200 companies — depositors with SVB UK — wrote Saturday to the U.K.'s Treasury asking for help. They said that some would not be able to comply with payroll deadlines without accessing their deposits with SVB UK.

The Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) logo is seen through a rain-covered window. LONDON — HSBC on Monday announced a deal to buy the U.K. subsidiary of the U.S. tech startup lender Silicon Valley Bank, which collapsed on Friday. HSBC confirmed that its U.K. ring-fenced subsidiary, HSBC UK Bank, had agreed to acquire SVB U.K. for £1 ($1.21). The sale, facilitated by the Bank of England in consultation with the U.K. Treasury, will protect the deposits of SVB U.K. clients, the Treasury said in a statement. "The U.K.'s tech sector is genuinely world-leading and of huge importance to the British economy, supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs," he added.

[1/2] British Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt talks to a television crew outside the BBC headquarters in London, Britain November 18, 2022. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls/File PhotoLONDON, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Britain's financial watchdog laid out options on Wednesday it said banks should offer customers finding it difficult to make payments on mortgages during the cost of living crisis. Prices slid last month by the most since the global financial crisis, mortgage lender Halifax said on Wednesday. In its draft guidance, the FCA also said firms may offer payment concessions where they agree to accept less than the contractual monthly instalment - resulting in a payment shortfall. "We will consider if there are further steps we can take to help firms to support their borrowers, including at scale."

☆ HSBC’s COP26 Climate-Change Ads Were Misleading, U.K. Watchdog Says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Dieter Holger | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A U.K. advertising watchdog ruled that HSBC Holdings PLC posted misleading advertisements in the run-up to last year’s United Nations climate summit, serving a warning to companies marketing their environmental credentials. In October 2021, ahead of the U.N. Climate Change Conference, or COP26, in Glasgow, HSBC UK placed ads promoting its efforts to plant trees and supply financing to achieve net-zero greenhouse-gas emissions. “Climate...

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