t
UNCLASSIFIED
CHANCELLOR
OF
THE EXCHEQUER
That was not, however,
lend more money to, various countries.
something that the HSBC had much to do with.
HSBC's move to London
3. The Chancellor asked how the relocation of HSBC's head office
to London had gone. Sir William Purvis said that the Group was very pleased with the progress that had been made.
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1
Brian Pearce
had been leading Midland very well. Midland had been in difficulty for a number of years. A 5-year programme to introduce new technology which would enable it to link to the technology used by the rest of the Group was getting underway. Investment in property refurbishment had been accelerated: some of the
branches were in a disgraceful state. Refurbishment would be
complete in three years. The Chancellor asked whether that would
involve reductions in the number of branches. Sir William Purvis
said that there would not be a large scale reduction in branches:
most of the required closures had already taken place, but there would be some tidying up at the edges.
Relations with China
4. Sir William Purvis said that the Head Office's move to London
had created some political problems for HSBC in South East Asia
and in China. Not everyone understood the commercial reasons why HSBC had decided to move a lot of its assets out of Hong Kong.
was being seen in part as a reaction to the present stand-off
between Hong Kong and China.
It
relations
with Beijing
5. HSBC's
had suffered from
Sir William Purvis's membership of the Hong Kong Executive Council over the last few years, as well as the Bank's move to London.
For example, Samuel Montagu had got approval to lead a Dragon Bond issue until the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office had stepped in.
UNCLASSIFIED
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