HSBC Holdings lifted the lid on the banking industry’s U.S. subprime exposure a year ago when it revealed loan impairments that so far total $27.8 billion and are expected to keep rising as the U.S. housing market continues to sour. But the bank is still keen on the subprime sector. “You don’t chuck a whole business and a whole franchise just because you’re in the downturn in the cycle,” says Brendan McDonagh, who became CEO of HSBC Finance Corp. last year. “You have to manage it right.” Evidently, McDonagh, 49, has been managing right: He was elevated last month to CEO of HSBC North America Holdings and joins the group management board of parent bank HSBC Holdings as group managing director.
PEOPLE - Subprime Success
HSBC Holdings lifted the lid on the banking industry’s U.S. subprime exposure a year ago when it revealed loan impairments that so far total $27.8 billion and are expected to keep rising as the U.S. housing market continues to sour.
Henry Teitelbaum
March 19, 2008
