HSBC becomes leading global issuer in the first semester of 2017

HSBC has reported a 7% increase in revenue from transaction banking products, selling US$6bn worth of structured products in the first half of 2017, making it the top issuer globally, according to SRP data.

Adjusted revenue, at $26.1bn, was up 3%, mainly in retail banking and wealth management from insurance manufacturing and increases in current accounts, savings and deposits, and in global banking & markets from fixed income, currencies and commodities, as well as in equities, according to the bank at a presentation of its interim results for 2017.

Trading assets increased by $85bn, reflecting increased equity securities, notably in the UK, and increased debt securities in most regions, reflecting higher client activity in fixed income, currencies and commodities and equities, according to the bank. In addition, settlement accounts rose in Europe, Asia and North America from higher trading activity compared with the seasonal reduction in December.

Debt securities stood at $63.2bn at June 30, 2017 (December 31, 2016: $65.9bn), while financial instruments measured at fair value included $2m worth of structured notes held for trading and $3bn structured certificates. Liabilities included $4bn worth of structured notes, comprising equity-linked ($3bn), fund-linked ($7m) and FX-linked notes ($95m), according to the bank.

HSBC manufactured 745 structured products worth $6bn in the first six months of 2017, up from 481 products ($2.2bn) issued over the same period in 2016, according to SRP data.

In the US, the bank issued 592 structured products with combined sales of $2.9bn between January 1 and June 30, 2017, making it the third most active manufacturer in the region with a 10% share of the market, behind Barclays (14%) and JP Morgan (12%). The bank's products, which were predominately capital at risk, were distributed, among other, via Goldman Sachs Private Banking, JP Morgan, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, UBS and Wells Fargo.

In Europe, the bank issued products in Germany, the UK and Sweden. In Germany, HSBC sold 26,875 listed investment certificates via its HSBC Trinkaus & Burkhardt subsidiary, mainly turbos, bonus and capped bonus certificates. The 19 products sold by HSBC in the UK were distributed via Walker Crisps Structured Investments and were mainly reverse convertibles with a knock-out feature, a prime example being Annual Growth Plan Issue 50, which was wrapped as a new individual savings account (Nisa) and linked to the FTSE 100. In Sweden, the bank issued six products, which were distributed by Garantum and linked to the performance of a basket of shares.

In Asia, HSBC sold 99 products in China over the semester, including 68 products linked to a single index of which the Hang Seng China Enterprises was the most popular. Twenty-eight products were issued by the bank in Japan via, among other, 82 Securities, Aozora Securities, Daiwa Securities, Hirota Securities and SBI Securities.

'We have had an excellent first half of 2017,' said Stuart Gulliver (pictured), group chief executive of HSBC, in a statement. 'Our three main global businesses performed well, increasing profit before tax and growing market share in many of the products that are central to our strategy. We remain on track to complete the majority of our strategic actions by the end of the year.'

Click the link to view the HSBC results, the interim report 2017 and the presentation.

UK: HSBC and Barclays make global top five in Q1 2017