Mayor John Tory pitches Toronto for HSBC headquarters

LONDON—Mayor John Tory has pitched Toronto as the future home of the United Kingdom’s HSBC as the bank looks to relocate its global headquarters amid growing financial pressures.

On his first overseas trade mission in London, Tory met with HSBC officials Wednesday at the High Commission of Canada and in private with bank chairman Douglas Flint.

“Toronto is a . . . global financial services capital, and we just felt that when we saw news of them taking a look at moving their head office that we should be a part of that,” Tory told the Star. He pointed out it is still possible HSBC will decide not to move from its current location; speculation this month has suggested that staying put is now more likely than not.

“If you don’t participate, then you don’t learn and if you don’t participate, then you certainly can’t win. So, we’ve put our best foot forward . . . The rest is in the hands of the gods as they would say.”

Toronto is thought to be a longshot for relocation with Hong Kong, and now the U.S., said to be in contention.

Currently headquartered at Canada Square in the heart of London’s Canary Wharf district, HSBC announced earlier this year it would look internationally for a new home after being hit with increased levies applied to all British banks post-recession.

With $5.2 trillion in assets, the Financial Times reported Thursday that HSBC’s advisers suggested the U.S. would be one of the few places that could accommodate what is currently Britain’s largest bank. As part of a review, HSBC has set out criteria for any future host country, including a “robust” regulatory regime.

Flint told the Financial Times that HSBC, as of this week, was “about halfway through the process” of considering a move.

A spokesperson for HSBC said the bank is not commenting on which countries are being considered for relocation, but said an update is expected along with the third-quarter results to be posted Nov. 2.

HSBC currently has offices in Vancouver as well as New York. In Canada, HSBC’s profits were down 3.6 per cent after the first half of the year over 2014, according to a release.