Top bankers ordered to rein in travel and entertainment expenses

HSBC

HSBC has warned its top bankers to rein in spending on entertainment and travel as it races to slash costs.

Money-makers who would have once enjoyed frequent lavish lunches and first-class travel have been reminded in recent days that they need to restrain their expenses and have at least three meetings a day if they do travel for work, sources told Bloomberg.

HSBC would not reveal its new rules on lunch or travel expenses.

The crackdown comes amid a hiring freeze in some departments as the outgoing boss of Europe’s biggest lender, Noel Quinn, prepares the banking giant for a new chief executive.

HSBC's efforts to rein in bankers' expenses come as chief executive Noel Quinn prepares to stand down - Lam Yik/Bloomberg

A HSBC spokesman said: “We are working smarter and more efficiently as we leverage technology and continue to manage costs.”

Belt-tightening among big banks began after the 2008 financial crisis, when lenders were bailed out and high-earning traders were expected to live more modestly.

Goldman Sachs, which used to hold an annual black-tie gala for its best deal makers, ditched free soft drinks and bottled water for London staff after the crash. Bankers were also told at the time that they could only get free meals and taxis after 10pm.

During the crisis Deutsche Bank also issued a memo advising staff that public transport should be used for travel within London and that business lunches should cost no more than £50 a head. In 2018, a year before it made drastic job cuts, it removed free fruit from offices.

Some of the world’s biggest banks have become much stricter on expenses in recent years. Last year it emerged that a banker at Citigroup had been sacked after submitting expenses for a meal in which he claimed to have eaten both a “pasta pesto and a bolognese”. He later admitted that one of the dishes was for his partner.

Citi also suspended one of its most senior bond traders in London in 2020 after alleging that he stole food from the office canteen. The man left the bank soon after the suspension.

Switzerland’s banking industry was also rattled in 2022 after one of its former top bosses was jailed for claiming nearly 200,000 Swiss francs (£165,000) on expenses to cover his visits to strip clubs.

The bank chief had claimed that a 700-franc dinner he had with a woman he met on dating app Tinder was justified because he was considering her for a job, and a trip to Australia took place because he needed to examine the country’s cash machines.

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