Chief Executive Officer Stuart Gulliver’s plans to cut costs and improve profitability are held back by U.S. probes and compensation claims from U.K. clients. A Senate committee said in July that failures in HSBC’s money-laundering controls allowed terrorists and drug cartels access to the U.S. financial system. Fitch said that HSBC’s expansion into 'higher-risk markets' such as China and tougher competition in Hong Kong were among the main reasons for the downgrade.
In the meantime, Reuters reports that France's top banks are taking advantage of calmer markets to return to expanding in the United States, a year after deep cuts to their investment banks saw them lose ground to rivals in the world's biggest financial market.
BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA: Quote), France's largest bank, and closest rival Societe Generale (SOGN.PA: Quote) have hired several top U.S. bankers in recent months, signaling a selective return to growth in areas like private banking, fixed income, equity derivatives or mortgage securitizations, according to bankers.
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