Bullterrier Banking

摘要

Sir John Bond, the 59-year-old chairman of HSBC Holdings Plc., sits under the sole personal memento in his London office-a photograph of "Gussy," his English bullterrier-and says, rather severely, "There are few original strategies in banking. There is only execution." So goes the watchword in servicing 23 million customers around the globe, in the most efficient of the world's top banks. Every dollar of income HSBC brought in last year cost it 54 cents, putting it well ahead of its one larger rival, Citigroup, at 68 cents. Last year it reported $6 billion in net income and its 20.8% five-year return on equity not only beats the other majors but also international competitors like Barclays (20.2%), ABN-Amro (17.8%) and Deutsche Bank (9.1%).