HSBC global HQ stays in UK

 The chairman of HSBCannounced that they will keep their global headquarters in London.

Chairman Douglas Flint, which recently relocated its chief executive's office to Hong Kong, said HSBC would carry out its triennial review of where best to headquarter the company in 2011, but added that London continued to have advantages over other rival centres in Asia or America.

"We're not trying to leave London," Flint told parliament's Treasury Select Committee. "London has historically, and continues to have advantages," he added.

"The UK's history in terms of its tax treaties and free flow of capital makes it an international headquarter."

Flint added that HSBC's bonus pot for this year was "around 2 billion," without specifying the currency.

Britain's "Big Four" banks -- HSBC, Barclays and part-nationalised lenders Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds are under pressure from politicians to rein in bonuses and lend more to stimulate the UK's struggling economy.

However, the banks have argued it is imperative for them to keep competitive salaries in order to hold on to top performers, who might otherwise move to rivals in Asia or Wall Street where authorities have not clamped down as hard on the banking sector.