Pigs Fly, Paris Hilton Takes the Veil, and HSBC CEO Calls for Higher Rates and More Regulation

HSBC CEO calls for higher rates to fight inflation
27 May, 2008, 1714 hrs IST,
REUTERS

HONG KONG: The chief executive of Europe's biggest lender on Tuesday called on central bankers to raise interest rates in order to combat inflation, and said more regulation may be needed in the wake of the credit crunch.

Michael Geoghegan, group chief executive at London-based HSBC Holdings, also said he expects it will take three years for the bank to turn around its HSBC Finance unit in the United States.

The consumer finance business, previously called Household International, was one of the earliest casualties of the subprime mortgage meltdown in the United States.

Geoghegan said central banks were not yet committed to taming inflation, and predicted U.S. interest rates would rise after the U.S. presidential election in November.

"Inflation is a long-term problem because there is no long-term will to solve it," Geoghegan said in a speech.

In a number of economies, central banks have either cut interest rates or kept them low to support growth at a time when lending between banks has stalled and housing markets around the world have plummeted.

However, energy and food prices have surged, feeding inflation and crimping consumer spending. For example, since a flood of homeowners defaulting on their mortgages snowballed into a credit crisis last summer, U.S. consumer inflation has risen from an annual rate of 2 percent to 3.9 percent in April.

Geoghegan also said the industry's investment banking model would need to be changed over time to avoid a repeat of the past year's credit crunch.

"I'm not a great fan of regulation ... but there will be a need to look at the model in that area," he said, adding that banks should focus on lending and investment advisers on advising clients, although he did not call for any specific measures.

"The investment banking model is flawed," Geoghegan said. "If banks aren't strong, they should be restructured or taken over," he added.

HSBC, which Geoghegan said has no plans for a share buyback, has managed to weather the credit crisis that erupted last summer better than many of its peers thanks to a significant presence in emerging markets in Asia and the Middle East.

In the first quarter of this year, the lender booked a bad debt charge related to its U.S. consumer finance business of $3.2 billion, less than the $4.6 billion in the previous quarter but double the level of the first quarter in 2007.

Geoghegan, speaking to reporters following an informal shareholders' meeting in Hong Kong, declined to project any further provision to cover subprime losses, but added that 80 percent of customers in the U.S. finance unit are still paying their mortgage bills. (Wow only a 20 percent default rate? That a glass half full description - Jesse)

Earlier this month, the bank said first quarter profit was higher than a year ago despite some $5 billion in write-downs and charges related to bad debts.

HSBC, whose shares were down 0.44 percent in London trade on Tuesday after closing 0.31 percent higher in Hong Kong, is due to report its first-half results on Aug 4.