Following my having written to Lord Hollick, Chair of the Lords Economic Affairs Committee, prior to his questioning of Lord Green (ex Chair HSBC) about the HSBC illegal charges, he wrote to Douglas Flint, current chair of HSBC about the matter. He refers in his letter about the charges as being “not illegal” (they were), and generalised the practice so as not to point the finger at HSBC. Here is the relevant extract:
The letter was a gift to HSBC who gratefully returned the compliment by not answering the point and in fact saying that giving up the illegal charges has impacted on its revenue streams (full letter here):