Standard Chartered (STAN.L), a competitor of HSBC in emerging markets, said earlier this year it would end all direct coal financing for clients by 2032. The Global Coal Exit List, which tracks finance firms' ties to the coal sector, said HSBC's fund arm exposure was $3.4 billion at end-November. HSBC said it will have engaged with all listed companies in its actively managed portfolios with more than 10% of revenues from thermal coal by next year. HSBC said in its 2021 annual report that the bank's thermal coal loan exposure was $1 billion, or 0.2% of its total wholesale loan book. When it comes to holding the boards of companies with significant thermal coal exposure to account, HSBC said its fund arm would vote against the election of board chairs at companies planning to expand production and use of thermal coal.

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