Senior HSBC executives have distanced themselves from comments on the financial risks of climate change by the global head of responsible investing in the bank’s wealth management division.
Chief Executive Noel Quinn and Nuno Matos, head of wealth and private banking at HSBC, slammed comments by Stuart Kirk accusing central bankers and policymakers of overestimating risk in order to “overstate who’s next”.
While the bank and its executives criticized the speech at a Financial Times conference, its topic and content had been agreed internally before Kirk spoke Thursday, according to people with knowledge of the event’s planning.
The title of the presentation – “Why investors needn’t worry about climate risk” – had been agreed two months in advance and published on the website in advance of the event.
“I don’t agree – at all – with the comments [this] Week’s FT Morale Money Summit,” Quinn said on LinkedIn this weekend. “They are not consistent with HSBC’s strategy and do not reflect the views of senior management at HSBC or HSBC Asset Management.”
He added: “We have a lot of work to do and I am determined that our team will not be distracted by last week’s comments.”
Matos, whose practice includes the wealth management business, said: “Fully in line with Noel Quinn – moving to net zero is the most important thing [sic] meaning to us and we will strive to help our customers along the way.”
HSBC has come under pressure from activists and shareholders in recent years for its role in financing companies with significant greenhouse gas emissions.
Kirk’s comments on climate change – which angered environmentalists – were particularly embarrassing for the bank, which sponsored the conference and was advertised as a strategic partner on the event’s website.
Stuart Kirk’s comments on climate change drew ire from environmentalists © Claudio Papapietro
During his speech, Kirk said that during his 25-year career in finance, “there was always some weirdo telling me about the end of the world,” and likened the climate crisis to the Y2K bug that predicted a widespread computer bug at the turn of the millennium.
“Unfounded, strident, partisan, self-serving, apocalyptic warnings are ALWAYS wrong,” he wrote on a slide accompanying his presentation.
Kirk did not respond to requests for further comment.
Last month, the FT revealed that Britain’s Advertising Standards Authority had prepared a recommendation which it said HSBC had misled customers in two advertisements, selectively promoting its green initiatives and information about the continued funding of companies with significant greenhouse gas emissions omitted emissions.
A year ago, the bank was pressured by a group of investors over its climate commitments, but it managed to stave off a shareholder revolt at its annual meeting by stepping up plans in line with international agreements to limit global warming.
However, the speed with which HSBC and other lenders have pledged to act, particularly on coal-fired power and mining financing, has disappointed some activists and ESG funds, and they continue to push for change.
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