It looks as if the name “HSBC” (the only truly international bank) will disappear in the UK, and the old name, Midland Bank, will be used again in bank branches all over Britain.
I have two reasons for interest in the decision of HSBC to take the bank HQ back to China and re-brand its branches. My family started banking with the Midland Bank in the 1850s, and it was a sad day when that old bank was bought and its name changed to HSBC (which stands for the “Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp”, and don’t ask about some aspects of its alleged history). I had a love-hate relationship with the Midland, but at least it was a stodgy, predictable, actual bank, not a casino.
Secondly, HSBC has recently been accused of laundering drug and other dodgy money, and, instead of apologising and cleaning ship, the bank is now complaining about British oversight. The sheer gall of it! It is, perhaps, indicative of the attitude of senior management that they think Chinese banking overseers will be more “amenable”.
Be careful what you ask for. At the moment, crooks are ending up in jail in their thousand in China for bribery and corruption. Memo to HSBC Chairman: is this a good time to go? Wouldn’t it be better to re-establish good old ethical banking in the West, and stop trying to make a quick and destructive fast buck?
They never learn because we don’t put them in jail (the excuse has been that the banks involved in corruption had recently been taken over by HSBC, and hadn’t been brought in line. So why buy them? Their due dilgence must be unusually incompetent) Be my guest – go, and with all your MBA’s. We want our money in a straightforward, secure place.
I personally blame the business schools for a lot of the banking problems. Harvard Business School stands accused to starting the rot by encouraging the idea of “anything goes” and making money at any cost. In my opinion you don’t need business school to be a businessman; an MBA or degree in “business studies” is merely credentialing. Learn on the job, and if you tiurn out to be a good salesman or a good manager you will be fine. Salesmen are born, not made, and management is mostly common sense. The only thing business schools have been useful for is finance – and look where it has got us! (I went to a business school – a waste of a lot of money)