HSBC Not Interested in Buying German Bank

The world's second largest bank, HSBC, is not interested in acquiring a German bank, according to Chairman John Bond, who denied rumors to the contrary that have been circulating in Frankfurt. Bond told German financial daily Handelsblatt that if HSBC were looking at a German acquisition, the only bank that would be interesting would be Deutsche Bank. Germany is Europe's largest economy and worth consideration, Bond said. "But I ask myself why HSBC would enter into a market where even domestic institutions have difficulty making a reasonable profit." The British Sunday Express earlier reported that representatives of Deutsche Bank had traveled to London for merger talks. However, people close to the banks said a merger was very unlikely.