New | HSBC direct exposure to Greece highest among peers
HSBC’s total exposure to Greece was US$7.3 billion, or about 4.5 per cent of tangible net assets, according to figures compiled by Sanford C. Bernstein. Among UK peers, it was the only bank with a “material” exposure to the country
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HSBC Holdings had the highest among its peers but analysts said the indirect exposure to fallout from a Greek exit from the eurozone was likely the greater worry for the bank.
HSBC’s total exposure to Greece was US$7.3 billion, or about 4.5 per cent of tangible net assets, according to figures compiled by Sanford C. Bernstein. Among UK peers, it was the only bank with a “material” exposure to the country, which shuttered banks starting on Monday with the hopes of averting bank runs and a full fledged crisis.
At a distant second place, RBS had about US$369 million in assets in Greece. Standard Chartered had almost no assets in the country.
Most of HSBC’s exposure was to other global banks doing business in the country with little currency risk.
About 27 per cent was corporate exposure and 14 per cent was retail. The data were from 2013, Bernstein noted, and most short-duration exposures to other banks were probably cut in the past few months. Other media reported that the bank now had about US$6 billion in assets in the country.