Household HSBC Watch

MEXICO CITY (MarketWatch) — The Mexican Ministry of Public Functions said Tuesday it will look into complaints of conflict of interest against a former finance minister, who was appointed this month as an independent director on the board of U.K.-based banking group HSBC Holdings PLC (HBC).

Francisco Gil Diaz, who was finance minister from 2000 to 2006 under former President Vicente Fox, was appointed Jan. 2 to the HSBC board as an independent, non-executive director. Carlos Reyes, a member of Mexico’s opposition Democratic Revolution Party filed a complaint Monday about the appointment with the Ministry of Public Functions, which oversees government institutions and civil servants.

The ministry said it has opened a file on the case and won’t comment further until a resolution is reached.
Gil Diaz said in an emailed statement that the board appointment is an independent one and that he won’t be an employee of HSBC. He rejected assertions that the appointment violates a law on the responsibility of civil servants. The offer came from the HSBC holding company, which isn’t regulated in Mexico, and the banking group’s Mexican unit wasn’t involved in the appointment, he said.