HSBC H1 profits: Positive Money response

London, 1 August 2023 – Responding to HSBC’s announcement this morning that its pre-tax profits for the first half of this year more than doubled to £16.9 billion, up from £7.2 billion for the same period last year, Fran Boait, co-executive director of Positive Money said:

“Make no mistake: the growth in HSBC’s profits is a direct result of the higher interest rates its suffering customers are struggling to pay on their loans.

“We’ve seen a staggering lack of leadership from the government, who’ve been too slow to make banks pass higher rates on to savers. But even if they’d acted quickly, where does this leave the people who have no savings left after three years of economic turmoil?

“If the government wants to restore trust in its abilities to rule in the public’s best interests, it should take a leaf out of Thatcher’s book and tax the unearned profits that banks are making off the backs of workers.”

Notes

• Higher interest rates mean that the Bank of England is expected to pay an estimated £75bn of interest on banks’ risk free reserves over 2023 and 2024, with a total of around £150bn due to be paid out between 2022 and 2028. For more information see: http://positivemoney.org/wp-content/uploads/Bank-windfall-tax-briefing-2.pdf 

• Positive Money has called for this windfall to be taxed: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/tell-hunt-to-tax-the-banks/ 

• Calls for a windfall tax on banks have been echoed by MPs, including Angela Eagle, John McDonnell, Clive Lewis, Diane Abbott and Richard Burgon

• HSBC’s Q2 profit announcement can be found here: https://www.hsbc.com/investors/results-and-announcements 

About 

Positive Money campaigns for a money and banking system which supports a fair, democratic and sustainable economy. Set up in the aftermath of the financial crisis, Positive Money is a not-for-profit company funded by charitable trusts and foundations, as well as small donations from its network of over 65,000 supporters. www.positivemoney.org