The chairman of HSBC’s German division has said that the bank could move its European headquarters from London to Düsseldorf if Britain votes to leave the European Union.
Speaking at an industry conference yesterday, Andreas Schmitz, the chairman of the supervisory board of HSBC in Germany, and a director of the country’s banking lobby, said that the western German city could become the new home for the lender in the event of Brexit.
“Banks are asking themselves ‘what happens if?’,” Mr Schmitz was reported to have said. “European business would more likely move to Düsseldorf than Paris.”
HSBC, however, was quick to distance itself from the remarks. “Mr Schmitz was speaking in his capacity as a senior member of the German Bankers’ Association, not on behalf of HSBC. His views do not reflect those of HSBC,” the bank said in a statement.
The banking giant is in the middle of an internal debate over the future domicile of its global headquarters and has pledged to say by the end of the year whether it will quit the UK for a new home, most likely Hong Kong. Even if this were to happen, it has been assumed that Britain would remain the base of its European businesses.
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However, when asked directly if a UK exit from the EU would lead the bank to move both its global headquarters to Hong Kong and its European base to Düsseldorf, Mr Schmitz said: “the latter would more likely be the case”.