Rub of the Green working well at HSBC

THE BOARDROOM on the 41st floor at the headquarters of the world's largest bank, HSBC, offers spectacular views of London.

A photoshoot is brought forward to grab a shot of the bank's chairman, Stephen Green, in front of this dizzying vista before the late afternoon light fades and the scheduled 45-minute interview. Within minutes, dark clouds engulf HSBC's Canary Wharf tower, obscuring the view.

The bank's spokesman says the room contains the largest boardroom table in Europe. It accommodates 20 directors who represent HSBC businesses around the globe. The view is apt - the bank needs a wide perspective for such an international business.

By the time Green arrives in the room the sky outside has cleared.

The HSBC chairman can claim not to have had his view obscured by the US subprime clouds that heralded the current financial storm. In late 2006, HSBC was the first bank to reveal a problem with US subprime mortgages.

"At that point we were a lone voice," says Green, the 60-year-old part-time preacher, in his 42nd floor office. "Then it became clear that everyone had written these silly loans that were turning bad."

Unlike some rivals, HSBC has shrugged off the heavy subprime losses and rejected capital injections from the British government.

It has also resisted buying wounded banks in western Europe or the US, instead sticking to growth in "emerging markets" such as Asia.

It's an expansion that suits a bank which started as the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation in 1865 to finance the growing trade between China and Europe. Little has changed in 143 years.

However, Green's attention will be focused westwards to Ireland today. The HSBC chairman and EU Commissioner Charlie McCreevy will open the bank's new Dublin headquarters at Grand Canal Square. It will house 570 staff and HSBC's businesses in the Republic, including its new Irish private bank.

Green says HSBC's vast reach provides opportunities for Irish investors who were previously focused inwards.

"Even if in the short-term economic conditions in Ireland have got more difficult for reasons we all understand, you don't build businesses for the short-term perspective. You are looking for the longer-term opportunity.

"With Ireland having matured into a very successful economy in the last decade or two, that has led to the creation of a private banking market with clients who had hitherto tended to look domestically at investment opportunities. Now they need to think more globally."

Green says anyone who saw bank recapitalisations as a magic pill to kick-start lending was "kidding themselves".

He says no government enjoys becoming "the owner of last resort to the banking system", but it was necessary to prevent the system descending into "a major catastrophe".

He says liquidity and lower interest rates will help economic recovery, and fiscal stimulus packages were needed to re-ignite lending.

"If the world at large increased taxes and cut spending, you are putting a reverse thrust on things. I don't want to comment on what the Irish Government is doing. Small countries face a different dynamic than larger ones, but it is absolutely the opposite of what the UK government is doing."

Green declares that "we are all Keynesian now", referring to economist John Maynard Keynes who said the state could stimulate economic growth through rate cuts, lower tax and higher public spending.

Fiscal stimulus packages have been unveiled in Britain, China, the EU and the US. Green says it would be "hard to believe" that these "will have no effect".

Green says he hopes the protectionist rhetoric of Barack Obama during the US presidential election campaign will "turn out to be words and not deeds" once Obama takes power as "it's in everyone's interest, including America's".

Investing in western European or even Irish banks is not on the cards for HSBC, says Green.

Asked about the interest of private equity firms in distressed banks, Green queries how they would cope with major bank funding problems.

"It is one thing to write out a cheque for the capital, it is another thing to guarantee the funding position. It is difficult to see how this is going to work without the support of a government when that extends to guaranteeing balance sheets. That is when you see eye-popping, large numbers."