HSBC says reform pressures unprecedented as first half profits drop

HSBC (HSBA.L) said it was facing unprecedented demands on its staff and operations from regulatory reforms as it reported a 12 percent drop in profits in the first half of the year. Europe's biggest bank said on Monday pretax profits in the six months to the end of June were $12.3 billion, down from $14.1 billion (8.37 billion pounds) a year earlier and just below an average forecast of $12.5 billion from 15 analysts polled by the company. The cumulative workload arising from a regulatory reform program that is unfortunately increasingly fragmented, often extra-territorial, still evolving and still adding definition is hugely consumptive of resources that would otherwise be customer facing," the bank said.

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