LONDON, April 20 (Reuters) - HSBC Holdings Plc willlook at whether to move its headquarters from London once theregulatory environment becomes clearer, the chairman of Europe'sbiggest bank said on Monday.
"We are beginning to see the final shape of regulation, thefinal shape of structural reform and as soon as that mist liftssufficiently we will once again start to look at where the bestplace for HSBC is," Douglas Flint said.
The comments, confirmed by HSBC, were made at an informalshareholder meeting in Hong Kong on Monday after an investorraised the issue of whether it should move.
HSBC and Standard Chartered, which is also based inLondon but makes most of its profits in Asia, are looking at thefeasibility of quitting London for a new home in Asia because abig jump in the special tax levied on UK banks makes staying inBritain increasingly painful, people familiar with matter havetold Reuters.
Several investors have said they want the two banks to do athorough analysis on whether it makes sense to move. HSBC movedits domicile from Hong Kong to London in 1993. (Reporting by Steve Slater; Editing by Greg Mahlich)