Notes from the past leave hsbc honchos scratching their heads
Time was when the bosses of HSBC prided themselves on dealing with customer complaints personally and knowing their operation literally top to bottom. These days, alas, the institutional memory seems to be dimming.
HSBC's informal shareholders meeting yesterday saw a local investor inquire as to whether it would make good on old local-currency bank notes issued by the Chartered Mercantile Bank of India, London and China - once a note issuing bank along with HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank.
Flummoxed by the query, group chief executive Stephen Green could only mumble: 'Sorry I don't have an answer for that.'
After a brief confab with outgoing chairman David Eldon, Mr Green had to admit: '[Mr Eldon] does not know either.'
Getting desperate, Michael Smith, chief executive of HSBC Asia Pacific, was called upon to pitch in but likewise could only offer to follow up at a later date.
