HSBC Chief Financial Officer Pam Kaur said the bank was not weighing a headquarters move from Britain as debate over bank taxes ahead of the UK budget continued, The Guardian reported.
The Guardian said Kaur made the comments during a media call Tuesday, Oct. 27, and quoted her saying, “we remain in the UK.” HSBC Holdings plc’s results release lists London as the parent company’s headquarters but does not discuss a new relocation review.
HSBC reported pretax profit of $9.6 billion for the three months ended Sept. 30, up $2.3 billion, or 32%, from a year earlier. The increase included a $1.4 billion favorable effect from notable items, mainly because legal provisions recorded in the third quarter of 2025 did not recur. Excluding notable items and currency changes, pretax profit rose $900 million to $10 billion.
After a review in 2016, HSBC’s board kept its headquarters in the UK and said it would reconsider the location only if circumstances changed materially, ending routine reviews.
UK banks pay a 3% surcharge on chargeable profits above £100 million, in addition to a bank levy. A UK Finance comparison prepared by PwC estimates a total tax rate of 46.2% for a model bank in London, versus 39.1% in Frankfurt and 27.9% in New York. The estimates describe a model bank, not HSBC’s effective tax rate.
UK Finance chief executive David Postings has argued that stable tax rules would support growth. The Trades Union Congress has called for a higher surcharge, saying the proceeds could help fund household energy support. The Guardian reported that higher bank taxes were under consideration. HM Revenue & Customs says full details of Chancellor John Healey’s budget will be published Wednesday, Oct. 28.
