HSBC Proving Its Fluency In Putin Newspeak

As the rest of the financial services industry races for the nearest Russian border in the face of the country’s invasion of Ukraine and unprecedented coordinated sanctions regime and social action, HSBC is proving once again that the “C” definitely does not stand for “corporate citizenship,” nor the “B” for “brave.”

HSBC committees that review all external-published research and client communications have amended multiple reports to soften the language used on the subject, including changing the word “war” to “conflict”, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter.

The changes in language had triggered internal debate and strong complaints from some staff, they added. It contrasts with explicit references to Russia’s “war” in research from rival banks such as UBS, Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank.

The “S,” though? That can definitely stand for “shame.” Not that Noel Quinn can feel it.

HSBC removes references to Ukraine ‘war’ from analyst reports [FT]
Wall Street Is Scrambling For the Exits in Moscow — and Billions Are at Stake [Bloomberg via Yahoo!]

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