HSBC 2014 Annual Report Download - page 10

HSBC BANK PLC
Strategic Report: Strategic Priorities
8
Strategic priorities
As aforementioned, we previously defined three
interconnected and equally weighted priorities for 2014
to 2016 to help us deliver our strategy:
• grow the business and dividends;
• implement Global Standards; and
• streamline processes and procedures.
Each priority is complementary and underpinned by
initiatives within our day-to-day business. Together, they
create value for our customers and shareholders and
contribute to the long-term sustainability of the group.
In the process, we shall maintain a robust, resilient and
environmentally sustainable business in which our
customers can have confidence, our employees can take
pride and our communities can trust.
As at 31 December 2014, the bank had 1,066 branches in
the United Kingdom and 13 located in the Isle of Man
and the Channel Islands. The bank and its subsidiaries
had further banks, branches and offices in Armenia,
Belgium, the Channel Islands, Czech Republic, France,
Germany, Greece, Hong Kong Special Administrative
Region of the People’s Republic of China, Ireland, Israel,
Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Russia,
South Africa, Spain, Switzerland and Turkey.
Grow the business and dividends
In growing the business and dividends, our targets are to
grow risk-weighted assets (‘RWAs’) in line with our
organic investment criteria and progressively grow
dividends while reducing the effect of legacy and non-
strategic activities on our profit and RWAs.
Our strategy is to take advantage of the continuing
growth of international trade and capital flows, and
wealth creation. We aim to achieve growth by leveraging
our international network and client franchise to
improve HSBC’s market position in products aligned to
our strategy.
To facilitate this growth, we recycle RWAs from low into
high performing businesses within our risk appetite.
In 2014, we launched a number of investment priorities
to capitalise on HSBC’s global network and accelerate
organic growth:
• Global Trade and Receivables Finance: We are
investing in our sales and product capabilities,
particularly for high-growth products and trade
corridors and expanding in trade hubs as a means of
reinforcing HSBC’s leading position in trade.
• Payments and Cash Management: We aim to deliver
improved client coverage and products via
investments in better sales coverage and customer
proposition and mobile enhancements.
• Foreign Exchange: We aim to improve our services to
clients and efficiency by improving our electronic
trading platforms and capabilities.
• Renminbi: Building on our market-leading position,
we are investing to roll out our renminbi servicing
capabilities internationally, with the aim of capturing
a larger share of offshore renminbi, foreign exchange
and capital markets opportunities.
Industry awards and market share gains have validated
our strategy. HSBC’s market shares in core international
connectivity products such as Payments and Cash
Management, Global Trade and Receivables Finance and
Foreign Exchange have all improved consistently over
the past three years. For three consecutive years,
including 2014, HSBC has been voted the top global cash
manager for corporate and financial institutions in the
Euromoney Cash Management survey. In the same
survey HSBC was voted best global cash manager for
non-financial institutions for a second consecutive year
in 2014. HSBC has also been voted the ‘Best Overall for
Products and Services’ by Asiamoney in its Offshore
Renminbi Services survey every year since the survey’s
inception in 2012.
We aim to continue to invest in key growth markets and
align resources to city clusters with fast-growing
international revenue pools:
• The UK is our home market: Our goal is to strengthen
and develop our home market position in key
products, such as mortgages and personal lending.
• Germany: We continue to improve our position in
Europe’s leading trade nation through the expansion
of our corporate franchise. In 2014, we broadened
our customer base by enhancing our products,
widening our geographical coverage and adjusting our
risk appetite. International revenues increased
through deeper relationships with customers and
developing cross-business collaboration
opportunities.
Implement Global Standards
HSBC is adopting the highest or most effective financial
crime controls and deploying them everywhere it
operates.
Two new global policies set out those controls for anti-
money laundering and sanctions. They are HSBC’s Global
Standards.
In line with our ambition to be recognised as the world’s
leading international bank, HSBC’s aspires to set the
industry standard for knowing our customers and
detecting, deterring and protecting against financial
crime. Delivering on this means introducing a more
consistent, comprehensive approach to managing
financial crime risk – from understanding more about our
customers, what they do and where and why they do it,
to ensuring their banking activity matches what we
would expect it to be.
We aim to apply our financial crime risk standards
throughout the lifetime of our customer relationships:
from selecting and onboarding customers, to managing
our ongoing relationships and monitoring and assessing
the changing risk landscape in the bank. HSBC’s new
global anti-money laundering policy enhances our ability
to stop criminals laundering money through HSBC. It sets
out global requirements for carrying out customer due
diligence, monitoring transactions and escalating
concerns about suspicious activity.