HSBC blames 12% profit slump on 'unprecedented' regulatory pressures

Profits were £7.33bn, from £8.37bn twelve months earlier. During the half-year, the bank also put aside some £139m  for its customer redress programmes to cover the cost of things such as mis-selling PPI, but said that it hoped to reduce the 'severity of future customer redress' costs. HSBC says it spends £750m to £800m per year on regulation and compliance at the moment and suggests 'there may be more money that needs to be spent on this area'.

Stuart Gulliver, HSBC group chief executive, said:

"These results demonstrate the resilience of our business model. Whilst regulatory uncertainty persists, our balance sheet remains strong and our continuing ability to generate capital supports both growth and our progressive dividend policy."

"The demands now being placed on the human capital of the firm and on our operational and systems capabilities are unprecedented.

"The cumulative workload arising from a regulatory reform programme that is unfortunately increasingly fragmented, often extra-territorial, still evolving and still adding definition, is hugely consumptive of resources that would otherwise be customer-facing."