Nils Pratley: HSBC needs objective analysis | Business

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It was last updated at 00:08 on May 13 2008. </div> </div> </div> <p>Forget the detail of yesterday's tit-for-tat argument between HSBC and Knight Vinke, the New York investment group, over the true scale of losses from HFC, the bank's US unit specialising in sub-prime lending. The broad fact is that the acquisition, made in 2003 during former chairman Sir John Bond's final years, has been a disaster. In a strong field, it is possibly the worst deal made in the US by a major British company. The important point to consider is what is to be done now.</p><p>Knight Vinke's preference is well known. It wants HSBC to ditch HFC and shove the problem on to the bondholders. HSBC, understandably, thinks that would be an appalling way to behave and the damage to the group's reputation would be grave.</p><p>But Knight Vinke has a second idea - HSBC should appoint independent financial advisers and see what outsiders think. This idea is harder for HSBC to ignore since the hands of many current executives, and not just Bond's, guided the acquisition. Are these executives unwilling to think radically because they are embarrassed by the mistake of buying HFC in the first place? That seems to be Knight Vinke's suggestion and it has some force. The activists, after all, were calling for the sub-prime business to be sold or spun off in early 2007. Such a deal might have been hard to achieve in practice, but, in retrospect, Knight Vinke was spot on in anticipating a major problem.</p><p>Certainly it is harder than ever to believe HSBC's line that HFC will come good in the end. One in 20 of HSBC's mortgages in the US are in arrears - and even the bank itself expects the housing crisis to extend into 2009. The future of HFC would seem to be crying out for a review: an outside perspective could be useful for everybody, especially shareholders who are left bewildered by the animosity between the two sides.</p><p><strong>Breath of fresh air </strong></p><p>Top marks to the Liberal Democrats for going where others fear to tread. Plenty of people agree that regulation of the banking industry has to change; fewer are willing to say how.</p><p>Admittedly, the Lib Dems' 10-point plan painted in broad sweeps. Requiring banks to be run in a counter-cyclical manner - so that they hold greater reserves during boom periods - is a fine ambition but there is no easy way to call the tops and bottoms of markets. "It would be the responsibility of the Bank of England to identify the turning points," say the Lib Dems. Just like that? It sounds horribly like asking the Bank governor to tell banks how to run their businesses. That, surely, is impractical.</p><p>Still, the Lib Dems are on firm ground in saying the UK banking industry "presents itself as fiercely competitive and entrepreneurial but then runs to the government to be bailed out in time of difficulty."</p><p>That's a good summary of events of the past nine months, since the sums being offered by the Bank through its Special Liquidity Scheme are staggering - an initial £50bn, and maybe £100bn eventually. That amounts to a hefty leg-up from the taxpayer. Yet it is impossible to find a contrite bank - though you will find many rewriting their bonus schemes to make it easier for the executives to earn millions in tougher times.</p><p>The Lib Dems think there are two options. Either banks should become regulated utilities, in the style of Railtrack or the water companies; or they should be given freedom to fail, subject to protection for depositors. The Lib Dems opt for the latter route. Quite right, too: putting the onus on banks not to pursue potentially ruinous strategies - and making the shareholders suffer the consequences of foolish decisions - would be an excellent discipline.</p><p>Its sense can be seen as we travel further from the drama of Northern Rock. Lack of protection for depositors was the single biggest reason why one medium-size lender's crisis became a threat to UK financial stability. Without the run on the Rock, there might have been time to organise a rescue, either by a competitor or by an administrator.</p><p>The most important area for reform may be another highlighted yesterday - the City's system of rewards and bonuses. At the moment, there is a clear mismatch: bonuses are paid annually, but problems emerge many years later. That creates an incentive to take risks, since nobody is ever asked to hand back a bonus. The Lib Dems back the suggestion that bonuses should be paid in shares redeemable over 10 years.</p><p>That's a very good idea. Making it happen is the tricky part, since no bank wants to risk an exodus of staff by being the first to jump. In the end, as the Lib Dems argue, regulators will have to involve themselves.</p><p>The document is a good read. It certainly contains more fresh thinking than we've heard from the government or the Conservatives.</p><p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080514054956/mailto:nils.pratley@guardian.co.uk">nils.pratley@guardian.co.uk</a></p> </div> <div id="related"> <ul id="article-toolbox-side"> <li class="printable"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080514054956/http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/may/13/hsbcholdingsbusiness.liberaldemocrats/print" rel="nofollow" id="printlink" class="printable rollover" name="&lid={article}{Print}&lpos={article}{1}"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20080514054956im_/http://image.guim.co.uk/static/51611/original/common/images/icon_print.gif" alt="Print this" class="trail-icon"/><span>Printable version</span></a></li> <li><a class="sendside rollover" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080514054956/http://www.guardian.co.uk/email/334081059" id="sendlinkSidebar" title="Opens an email form" name="&lid={email-ARTICLE}{Nils Pratley: HSBC needs objective analysis}"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20080514054956im_/http://image.guim.co.uk/static/51611/original/common/images/icon_email-friend.gif" alt="Send to a friend" class="trail-icon"/><span>Send to a friend</span></a></li> <li> <a class="sendside rollover" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080514054956/http://www.guardian.co.uk/share/334081059" id="sharelinkSidebar" title="Opens a share this page in a new window" name="&lid={share-ARTICLE}{Nils Pratley: HSBC needs objective analysis}"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20080514054956im_/http://image.guim.co.uk/static/51611/original/common/images/icon_share.gif" alt="Share this" class="trail-icon"/><span>Share</span></a> </li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080514054956/http://www.guardian.co.uk/users/clippings/add?r2PageId=755718" id="clippable" class="rollover" name="&lid={clip-ARTICLE}{Nils Pratley: HSBC needs objective analysis}&lpos={myclippings}{1}"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20080514054956im_/http://image.guim.co.uk/static/51611/original/common/images/icon_clip.gif" alt="Clip this" class="trail-icon"/><span>Clip</span></a></li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080514054956/http://www.guardian.co.uk/contactus/334081059" class="sendside rollover" id="contactlinkSidebar"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20080514054956im_/http://image.guim.co.uk/static/51611/original/common/images/icon_email-us.gif" alt="Contact us" class="trail-icon"/><span>Contact us</span></a></li> <li class="resize"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20080514054956im_/http://image.guim.co.uk/static/51611/original/common/images/icon_font.gif" alt="Resize font" class="trail-icon"/> <a href="/web/20080514054956/http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/accessibility" id="larger-sidebar" name="&lid={Signedin}{Text Larger}&lpos={Signedin}{6}">larger</a> | <a href="/web/20080514054956/http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/accessibility" id="smaller-sidebar" name="&lid={Signedin}{Text Smaller}&lpos={Signedin}{7}">smaller</a> </li> </ul> <div class="send" id="send-share-side"> <div class="send-inner "> <div class="share-top"> <h3>Share</h3> <span><a class="sendside">Close</a></span> </div> <ul> <li> <a class="digg" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080514054956/http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fbusiness%2F2008%2Fmay%2F13%2Fhsbcholdingsbusiness.liberaldemocrats&title=Nils+Pratley%3A+HSBC+needs+objective+analysis" name="lid={share}{Digg}">Digg</a> </li> <li> <a class="reddit" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080514054956/http://reddit.com/submit?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fbusiness%2F2008%2Fmay%2F13%2Fhsbcholdingsbusiness.liberaldemocrats&title=Nils+Pratley%3A+HSBC+needs+objective+analysis" name="lid={share}{reddit}">reddit</a> </li> <li> <a class="google" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080514054956/http://www.google.com/bookmarks/mark?op=edit&bkmk=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fbusiness%2F2008%2Fmay%2F13%2Fhsbcholdingsbusiness.liberaldemocrats&title=Nils+Pratley%3A+HSBC+needs+objective+analysis" name="lid={share}{Google Bookmarks}">Google Bookmarks</a> </li> <li> <a class="yahoo" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080514054956/http://myweb2.search.yahoo.com/myresults/bookmarklet?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fbusiness%2F2008%2Fmay%2F13%2Fhsbcholdingsbusiness.liberaldemocrats&t=Nils+Pratley%3A+HSBC+needs+objective+analysis" name="lid={share}{Yahoo! 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