1 hour, 34 minutes ago LONDON (Reuters) - HSBC (HSBA.L) is underestimating problems at its troubled U.S. consumer finance arm, a rebel shareholder said on Monday and called on the bank to appoint an independent financial advisor to consider options for the unit.Activist hedge fund investor Knight Vinke said if HSBC had accounted for its sub-prime assets as conservatively as other banks, its losses would stand at about $50 billion. It estimated HSBC's cumulative writedown stands at $25 billion after losses announced earlier in the day.
HSBC, Europe's biggest bank, said it would take a $3.2 billion charge on bad debts at HSBC Finance for the first quarter and wrote down $2.6 billion on the value of risky assets. Strong growth in Asia helped it to beat last year's Q1 profit, it said in a trading update.
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