(Bloomberg) -- HSBC Holdings Plc has edited research reports from its analysts to remove any references to a โwarโ in Ukraine as the lender resists pressure to follow peers in closing its business in Russia, the Financial Times reported, citing two unidentified people.
Committees at the bank that review externally published research and client communications have amended multiple reports to soften the language, including changing the word โwarโ to โconflict,โ the newspaper reported.ย
A person close to the bank said the issue was extremely sensitive because HSBC has hundreds of staff in Russia, where the government has enacted a law against spreading what it deems false information on the Ukraine war, according to the FT. The language changes have prompted internal debate and complaints from some staff, it reported.
Internally HSBC has been more open, with Chief Executive Officer Noel Quinn using the word war in a video to top managers, the FT said. In a research report on Friday, the bank's consumer retail research team wrote โthat the U.K. is facing double-digit inflation levels as the war in Ukraine is further impacting the cost of living,โ as they noted comments from a senior British executive.
Global lenders including Wall Street giants Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. have been pulling business from Russia. On Monday, Credit Suisse AG announced plans to reduce business there, while Deutsche Bank AG announced a pullback earlier this month.ย
In the six months through June 2021, HSBC's Russian subsidiary made a pretax profit of 377 million rubles ($3.84 million), according to accounts filed by the unit. The unit's total assets stood at 89.9 billion rubles, according to the accounts, and it employed 249 people.
An HSBC spokesman declined to comment on the report. The bank has previously said that it was not accepting new business in Russia and would continue to โreduceโ its operations, but has stopped short of announcing a full withdrawal.
โWe have a responsibility to assist our international clients with banking support, as they make and implement decisions on their operations in Russia over the coming weeks,โ the bank said in a March 21 statement on its business in the country.
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