In Short

A round-up of today's other stories in brief

Boardroom row follows news of HSBC chairman quitting post

A dramatic upheaval among HSBC’s top management after a boardroom row has left the bank scrambling to limit damage to its reputation, but it is unlikely to alter its rising focus on Asia.

Chief executive Michael Geoghegan is set to be replaced by Stuart Gulliver, the head of investment banking, a person familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

Its finance director Douglas Flint is to take over as chairman, as a power struggle after the announced departure of its chairman two weeks ago spread across the board.

The board shake-up was triggered by news two weeks ago that chairman Stephen Green was leaving for a ministerial post in the British government. This prompted jostling for position by board members. Mr Geoghegan threatened to quit if not made chairman, the Financial Times reported this week, which the bank dismissed as “nonsense”. Analysts broadly welcomed the potential Flint/Gulliver double-act. – (Reuters)

Inquiry into British bank break-ups

Britain’s banks will be subject to a wide-ranging inquiry that will examine the possible break-up of retail and investment banks and ways to boost competition, although no single option is favoured at present.

The Independent Commission on Banking was appointed three months ago by the British government to assess the structure of the industry in the wake of the financial crisis, which saw taxpayers bail out leading financial groups.

The commission published its first issues paper on the topic yesterday.

It said it would look at separating retail and investment banking divisions, imposing limits on proprietary trading and investing and at boosting competition and reforming market infrastructure.

German business sentiment on up

German business sentiment has risen unexpectedly this month, although companies now expect the pace of growth in Europe’s largest economy to slow, a closely watched survey showed yesterday.

The Munich-based Ifo think tank said its business climate index, based on a survey of some 7,000 firms, rose to 106.8 from 106.7 in August.

The surprise uptick helped to push the euro to session highs against the dollar and sterling, while European shares pared losses and bund futures turned negative.

The mid-range forecast in a Reuters poll of 48 economists had been for a fall in sentiment to 106.2. “Today’s Ifo defies any double-dip concerns for the German economy,” said Carsten Brzeski, economist at ING Financial Markets. – (Reuters)