HSBC bosses including CEO Noel Quinn urge Hong Kong shareholders to reject proposals to raise dividends, split Asia business

It’s the second times in eight months that UK-based top brass have met over 1,000 shareholders in a convention hall in Kowloon Bay

Several shareholders who spoke at the meeting on Monday supported the two resolutions for higher dividend, restructuring

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Several shareholders who spoke at Monday’s meeting supported the two resolutions made by the Hong Kong-based ‘Spin Off HSBC Asia Concern Group’ in March. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Published: 7:35pm, 3 Apr 2023Updated: 2:17pm, 4 Apr 2023

Three of HSBC’s most senior executives have urged minority shareholders in Hong Kong to reject a proposal to raise dividend payouts and consider a radical structural overhaul to enhance the bank’s value which would include spinning off its Asian operations.

For the second time in eight months, UK-based HSBC chairman Mark Tucker and CEO Noel Quinn flew in to host an informal meeting alongside Hong Kong-based Asia-Pacific chairman Peter Wong Tung-shun with over 1,000 shareholders packed into a convention hall in Kowloon Bay.

In their opening speeches, all three senior bankers repeated the HSBC board’s suggestions last month urging shareholders to reject two resolutions at the forthcoming annual general meeting for the lender to pay a higher dividend and split its Asian business.

“The board has a clear responsibility to protect and grow shareholder value. The first way to do that is to continue with our current strategy,” Tucker said.

“So let me end by repeating our advice to you: We strongly encourage you to vote against the resolutions.”

Several shareholders who spoke at Monday’s meeting supported the two resolutions made by the Hong Kong-based “Spin Off HSBC Asia Concern Group” in March. They demand the bank restore its annual dividend to a pre-pandemic level of at least 51 US cents a share and urge the executives to consider how to improve the performance of HSBC including the possibility of separating its Asian and Western operations.