Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News. I'm standing by, of course,
Speaker 1: with Lisa Miguel, who is the USEO of HSBC as
Speaker 1: well as the head of Banking. And it is your
Speaker 1: first interview live since taking the role. You started on
Speaker 1: the first day of January. Yes, you've been moving very
Speaker 1: quickly and have you been met with the craziest markets?
Speaker 1: Could you have expected that this is what you'd be
Speaker 1: walking into.
Speaker 2: Well, thank you so much, Janelli, It's an honor to
Speaker 2: be here. I'm just absolutely thrilled. So look, this is
Speaker 2: a fantastic role as CEO for the US. It is
Speaker 2: a really interesting time to be in the US. The
Speaker 2: market volatility is challenging for clients we have. We're very
Speaker 2: proud of our global connectivity, our global network, the product
Speaker 2: depth that we have, but clients are using this now
Speaker 2: more than ever to help navigate a very difficult environment.
Speaker 1: Yeah, speaking to the environment a little more. The unique
Speaker 1: view you have is HSBC is big global bank and
Speaker 1: for the first time in a long time, you're seeing
Speaker 1: Europe outperform, You're seeing Asia also outperform, and that American
Speaker 1: exceptionalism story come under question. What does that look like
Speaker 1: from your view? And is it sustainable.
Speaker 2: Yes, it's a great question. So we're helping our clients
Speaker 2: navigate the tariffs. Tariffs are nothing new. We have one
Speaker 2: hundred and sixty years of experience, one hundred and fifty
Speaker 2: years in the United States, so we've navigated tariffs before,
Speaker 2: I think. And by the way, we're the number one
Speaker 2: trade bank in the world, did eight hundred and fifty
Speaker 2: seven billion of trade financing last year, So clients need
Speaker 2: our insights now more than ever. I think the challenges
Speaker 2: in the US, Yes, there's uncertainty policy uncertainty. By the way,
Speaker 2: there's still two conflicts on in the world, and so
Speaker 2: leveraging our fifty plus country presence and the expertise that
Speaker 2: we have and the experience that we have developed over
Speaker 2: the years helping clients navigate. You know, I don't think
Speaker 2: that I think clients got a great experience through COVID,
Speaker 2: as much as that sounds, they have the ability to
Speaker 2: navigate a very difficult time and adjust their supply chains.
Speaker 2: So some of those learnings are actually coming into handy.
Speaker 1: Yeah, what does that look like now with that kind
Speaker 1: of experience in the world of trade, trade finance, does
Speaker 1: this set of tariff pressures coming from the United States
Speaker 1: and even reciprocally. Is it jarring to your clients. Is
Speaker 1: it something that is stopping activity in a way that
Speaker 1: is going to be difficult to bring back.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a great question. I think it is difficult
Speaker 2: to make long term strategic decisions today. Now we're going
Speaker 2: to know more about the tariffs and what exactly is
Speaker 2: happening April second, so we're standing by on that. However,
Speaker 2: trade needs to happen every day and their flows that
Speaker 2: are important to continue to support. I think clients are
Speaker 2: hesitating a bit on the long term decisions. However, most
Speaker 2: of them are fairly diversified in their supply chains, so
Speaker 2: they can work really well despite the noise. I think
Speaker 2: the other thing about the US is that, yes, there
Speaker 2: might be some weakness in the stock market, Yes GDP
Speaker 2: might moderate, Yes there may be inflation. But we're also
Speaker 2: helping clients do business all around the world, and there
Speaker 2: are growth corridors in areas where we can support what
Speaker 2: they need to do.
Speaker 1: What are those growth corridors, Because back to the question
Speaker 1: about US investors looking to put money abroad, Yes, how
Speaker 1: much are they doing so? How much are they coming
Speaker 1: to you? And said we want to invest our dollars
Speaker 1: outside of the US terra for no terrifs.
Speaker 2: Yes, So it gets to a bit about the importance
Speaker 2: of the US as a deep capital market with you know,
Speaker 2: investors that have significant capital to put to work globally,
Speaker 2: so they are looking to US. I would say there
Speaker 2: are a couple of exciting corridors that we look at.
Speaker 2: One is probably India. You know, six and a half
Speaker 2: percent GDP growth, a billion and a half population, that
Speaker 2: made an India trend. You know, we have a significant
Speaker 2: presence in India, so our history there that's been wonderful,
Speaker 2: the US to India corridor. The other is the Middle
Speaker 2: East with UAE and Saudi the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,
Speaker 2: where we've been for one hundred and thirty years. We
Speaker 2: have six thousand people, we're three times biggest and bigger
Speaker 2: than the next competitor. And then probably Southeast Asia, Vietnam,
Speaker 2: Indonesia and Thailand. Again, these are areas where I think
Speaker 2: we've got five thousand trade specialists in over fifty countries,
Speaker 2: so we've got the ability to help clients navigate today.
Speaker 1: What about the other way around, how do you talk
Speaker 1: to your counterparts across HSBC in terms of the interest
Speaker 1: coming into the United States. Yes, are people putting dollars
Speaker 1: to work right now on that US exceptionalism story. Are
Speaker 1: they holding off the way you see the public market
Speaker 1: investors doing so now?
Speaker 2: Yes, so I am. I am seeing still investment commitment
Speaker 2: in the United States. And we were just with Governor
Speaker 2: Kathy Hochel and talking through this last week. So there
Speaker 2: is there are new plants, there are commitments. I think
Speaker 2: the PIF made a significant commitment to the President. We
Speaker 2: are still seeing that commitment and you know, the plants
Speaker 2: and the investments in infrastructure. If you think about the CHIPSAC,
Speaker 2: the Inflation Reduction Act, the size and scale of the
Speaker 2: population we are, what do we do twenty nine trillion
Speaker 2: of GDP last year, It's a quarter of the global GDP.
Speaker 2: It's a big consumer market. So you know, the depth,
Speaker 2: scale and ability to grow your business in the US
Speaker 2: is really unparalleled. So we're helping on the inbound side
Speaker 2: as well as the outbound side. But I also think
Speaker 2: that you know, helping clients navigate where should they invest
Speaker 2: where should they build? Are two different things, but we're
Speaker 2: uniquely qualified to do that.
Speaker 1: They're helping clients manage large strategic decisions at a time
Speaker 1: where HSBC is making massive strategic decisions of its own.
Speaker 1: Your CEO, George L. Heathery, had taken over back in September.
Speaker 1: Took over just in January of the US division. He
Speaker 1: said in February that the company is finalizing a review
Speaker 1: of the investment banking divisions. You've scaled back in a
Speaker 1: big way in the United States, So what does your
Speaker 1: business look like today? Where are you not and where
Speaker 1: are you going to operate?
Speaker 2: It's a great question. First of all, I'm thrilled you
Speaker 2: know that George is taking these decisions, because when you
Speaker 2: run a one hundred and sixty year old financial institution,
Speaker 2: you have to be really clear about where you're deploying
Speaker 2: your resources. So that'll be capital, talent investments, and you
Speaker 2: want to invest in technology and AI and continue to grow.
Speaker 2: So he's taken some very bold decisions. He's aligned our
Speaker 2: company into you know, the UK Hub, the Hong Kong Hub,
Speaker 2: the Corporate and Institutional bank, and international wealth and Premiere Banking.
Speaker 2: That's fantastic. It's simplified, it's agile, it's more client focused.
Speaker 2: I think we had an opportunity to do that, and
Speaker 2: he's moving at pace. So here in the US, the
Speaker 2: US contributes significantly over five billion last year to Asia
Speaker 2: in the Middle East through trade immense FX and our
Speaker 2: broader markets business as well as financing. So we're a
Speaker 2: three trillion dollar bank. We are significant, so we can
Speaker 2: support clients in financing. That'll be deck capital markets and
Speaker 2: leverage finance. In the global transaction banking, it'll be as
Speaker 2: I said, the payments business where we processed five hundred
Speaker 2: trillion last year, we do one hundred and eighty eight
Speaker 2: trades a second. And then we also have FAX where
Speaker 2: we're trading at one hundred and thirty currencies as well
Speaker 2: as the trade I referred to. So these are really
Speaker 2: amazing sort of jewel of the crown type of businesses
Speaker 2: and the ability to help clients navigate. So in the US,
Speaker 2: that's where we're going to be focused on the global
Speaker 2: transaction banking and the financing. You know, M and A inequities,
Speaker 2: we were less competitive, so I think, you know, making
Speaker 2: sure that where we have strengths is where we focus.
Speaker 1: How do you explain the commitment that you have to
Speaker 1: the existing investment banking businesses because m and A for
Speaker 1: a lot of other banks had been kind of the
Speaker 1: core of the operation. But you're making debt capital markets.
Speaker 1: It seems like the.
Speaker 2: Core and leverage finance well, because we have the balance
Speaker 2: sheet and we have the ability to support clients in
Speaker 2: our lending multiple lending products, which is highly correlated to
Speaker 2: the capital markets, and so allowing them to access the
Speaker 2: debt capital markets wherever they want to issue is really
Speaker 2: important on the leverage finance side as well. Our financing,
Speaker 2: our powerhouse, our ability to help clients grow and build
Speaker 2: is really unparalleled. So those are our power alleys and
Speaker 2: can help us on the international side to navigate and
Speaker 2: help clients navigate as they grow the business.
Speaker 1: So if you think about the global scale of HSBC
Speaker 1: and the transformation that the bank is enduring, where do
Speaker 1: you say the US is in that transformation story?
Speaker 2: So the US is on a fantastic path and we
Speaker 2: were ahead. I mean, I think we talked about I
Speaker 2: packed my bags and I was here in a few
Speaker 2: days to start, and so we're moving it and I
Speaker 2: haven't seen an organization move this fast in banking. But
Speaker 2: the US is again, you know, the core of the
Speaker 2: business we have in a market share perspective. If you
Speaker 2: think about where HSBC is strongest, we're the number one
Speaker 2: in market share in every product that we care about,
Speaker 2: so you know, payments trade effects a couple of markets again,
Speaker 2: so that is amazing. The other thing to think about
Speaker 2: is that we can bank clients from an innovation banking perspective.
Speaker 2: We have one hundred bankers that are focused on you know,
Speaker 2: healthcare and technology and you know just venture venture stage companies,
Speaker 2: like over a thousand of them. And you know that
Speaker 2: team that we we were able to get from SVB,
Speaker 2: amazing team run by Dave Sabao who's based in the
Speaker 2: United States. As those clients grow and build, we can
Speaker 2: support them as they expand overseas.
Speaker 1: Really an amazing transformation story. Lisa miguel Us, CEO of HSBC,
Speaker 1: we thank you for sharing the story of the transformation
Speaker 1: of the bank and of course for clients are looking
Speaker 1: to invest today.