CEO says sticks with “challenging” cost target

LONDON (Reuters): HSBC said it is paying $200 million to $300 million more each year to meet tougher regulation and improve its US compliance measures, adding to pressure on Europe’s biggest bank to meet a “challenging” cost target next year.

HSBC Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver said it is “proving challenging” to get the bank’s costs to within the 48-52 per cent area he is targeting, after the firm’s underlying cost/income ratio came in at 63.7 per cent in the third quarter. “It will remain a target that we’re going to strive to get to by the end of 2013,” he said on a conference call.