What is Ringfencing?

After the global economic crisis, the UK Government put new rules in place to protect the economy and taxpayers in case something similar happens again. This involves:

  • Separating retail banking operations from any wholesale and investment divisions
  • Changing the way HSBC has been structured in the UK - creating a new ring-fenced bank, HSBC UK Bank plc (HSBC UK) making changes prior to 1 January 2019

To ensure HSBC meets the new banking rules, there has been a proposal to transfer personal customers and most business customers in the UK from HSBC Bank plc to HSBC UK. For the vast majority of HSBC customers there will be very little change including no changes to terms and conditions, other than changing the legal entity name for HSBC UK customers.

What is MiFID and MIFID II?

Prompted by changes in the way financial markets operate, the European Commission has introduced the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID), as part of its Financial Services Action Plan (FSAP) in order to create a level playing field in the European Economic Area (EEA) from 1 November 2007.

The MiFID II reform means that organised trading of financial instruments must shift to multilateral and regulated trading platforms or be subject to transparency requirements where traded over-the-counter (OTC). Strict transparency rules will ensure that dark trading of shares and other equity instruments which undermine efficient and fair price formation will no longer be allowed. The implementation date is 3 January 2018. Below is a list of policies that are applicable to HSBC UK Bank plc clients.

Find out more about MiFID Best Execution

Need help?

For more information, please contact your HSBC representative.