The largest European bank by assets, Hsbc, closes the third quarter with profits up 30%, thanks to cost cutting and divestments, but disappointing market expectations. In fact, pre-tax profit rose to 4,53 billion dollars (about 3,36 billion euros) from 3,48 billion in the same period of 2012, but analysts were aiming on average for profits of 5,54 billion.
And that's not the only cause for concern. In fact, in addition to announcing the quarterly accounts, the British bank has announced that it is one of the institutions under investigation for manipulation of the foreign exchange market and has announced its readiness to collaborate with the US and British investigative authorities. Before HSBC, Barclays, Deutsche Bank and UBS had also admitted that they were involved and wanted to collaborate in the investigations.
