REPORT: HSBC will decide whether it will move its HQ out of Britain this week

ReutersHSBC CEO Stuart Gulliver

HSBC will decide this week whether it will move its headquarters out of London.

That’s according to The Telegraph newspaper that also says that the banking giant is erring on the side of keeping its headquarters in Britain’s capital — even though the support for a Brexit is gaining momentum.

The Telegraph reported that HSBC, which was initially meant to publish the findings of its review to determine whether or not it will relocate its HQ by the end of 2015, will finalise their plans before it releases its full-year financial results on February 22. It added that the decision is touted to be released this week.

Meanwhile, Richard Dunbar, investment director at Aberdeen Asset Management told BBC Radio 5 Live Wake Up to Money programme this morning that he thinks HSBC is “meandering towards a decision to stay in London because “the current government is a little more sympathetic towards the City” and therefore HSBC is becoming more comfortable with Britain’s legal and regulatory framework.

Business Insider got in contact with HSBC for comment over the report but did not hear back by the time this article was published. We will update the story later if we hear back.

In April last year, HSBC officially announced it is looking into whether to move its headquarters outside the UK, after weeks of rumours. The giant investment bank launched an “immediate review” on whether to move its HQ.

This is what chairman Douglas Flint said in an announcement at the time (emphasis ours):

As I said at our informal meeting in Hong Kong on Monday, we are beginning to see the final shape of regulation and of structural reform, including the requirement to ring fence in the UK. As part of the broader strategic review taking place, the Board has therefore now asked management to commence work to look at where the best place is for HSBC to be headquartered in this new environment. The question is a complex one and it is too soon to say how long this will take or what the conclusion will be; but the work is underway.

In December, Chairman Douglas Flint, along with other HSBC executives, held talks with senior city officials, including Toronto’s mayor John Tory, about a possible relocation in October to Canada, according to a report in the Times.

Other locations including the US, Germany’s Frankfurt, Hong Kong and Singapore were also rumoured to be considered.