Awards for Excellence 2020
The London-headquartered lender has its roots and its future in Asia, and from the outset it was keen to provide staunch support to its customers across the region. It has been everywhere throughout the Covid-19 crisis, playing, in the words of chief executive Noel Quinn, a “massive role” in supporting communities and helping restore economic growth.
At the group level, HSBC reinforced its reputation for resilience by keeping 80% of its branches open, despite asking 90% of its staff to work from home. Its team of ‘food angels’ distributed aid to the needy, while in mainland China it built an app that streamed pandemic updates to staffers and joined forces with healthcare platform WeDoctor to provide real-time consultation services.
In Singapore, the bank introduced a one-hour turnaround on the issuance of shipping guarantees, while in its heartland of Hong Kong, it rolled out relief measures worth more than HK$30 billion ($3.9 billion) and deferred principal payments on loans for companies in stressed sectors.