"The operating environment for banks in the UK is extremely challenging and will remain so for some time, " HSBC UK managing director Paul Thurston said in the statement.

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"I'm very realistic, " Giles Morgan, the Global Head of Sponsorship and Events for HSBC told the UK Press Association.

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For what it is worth, we know that Deutsche Bank of Germany, Switzerland's UBS, America's Citigroup, and - from the UK - RBS, Lloyds and HSBC are all being investigated.

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In the UK, for example, Nationwide and HSBC weathered the storm, because their foundations were stronger.

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German banks had lent 12% of the German GDP to Ireland and Spain British banking giants Barclays and HSBC had lent 9.4% of the UK GDP to Ireland and another 5.7% to Spain.

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In HSBC's case they are much bigger outside the UK than inside.

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As expected, the four UK banks passed the test - Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC, Barclays and Lloyds Banking Group.

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The reason is that George Osborne is minded to accept the recommendation of the Independent Commission on Banking for a "substantially enhanced divestiture" by Lloyds - which the commission believes is essential in order to create an effective new competitor to the big five UK banks, Lloyds, Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays, HSBC and Santander.

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