Household HSBC Watch

Jeff Prestridge, Mail on Sunday - 12 June 2005 : BANKING giant HSBC has broken banking industry rules for the second time in as many months over plans to close unprofitable branches. The bank has been forced to keep open a branch in North Wales for a further four weeks after it failed to give customers sufficient notice. The infringement of the rules follows an identical indiscretion over the closure of its Torrisholme branch in Lancashire. That branch finally shut last Friday, though HSBC originally wanted to close it by May 6. The Banking Code Standards Board, to which all the big banks voluntarily subscribe, requires banks to give customers a minimum of eight weeks’ notice, but that is extended by four weeks for branches defined as the ‘last in town’. The HSBC branches in Old Colwyn and Torrisholme both fall within this definition.