Banker to become regional head; rivals applaud hire.

The bank finds that it can’t have its cake and eat it.

Loses key personnel; Still maintains ambition to be top FX house

HSBC released its interim management statement last Friday but followed the Lloyds model of being light on real figures. The only numbers published were those the bank was obliged to publish: for its US operations. The management statement says that HSBC saw the market as being as subdued: “Global Banking and Markets’ performance in the quarter was robust, although trading activity was lower, reflecting seasonal factors and more subdued market sentiment and conditions.”

Funding costs are rising and the markets periodically shut down. But regulators want you to raise more and to hold more short-term liquidity that you can’t reinvest at a profit. You don’t know how regulators will classify your risk assets or how much capital they will require you to hold. But it will be more than you have. Raising it will cost more than you can earn as a return on it. Fancy a challenge? Become a CFO. Peter Lee reports.

Mark Bamford, head of global syndicate at Barclays Capital in New York, speaks with Euromoney's Hamish Risk about the recent surge in corporate bond issuance in the U.S.