HSBC chief's pledge: Our HQ is set to remain in London

"We don't have an intention to relocate," the chairman of HSBC, Europe's largest bank, told MPs today. But Douglas Flint also said his board will this year again look at whether it stays in London.

"Every three years we ask, if you had come down from Mars where would you put the headquarters of the group," he said. "London consistently comes out ahead because of its political stability, rule of law and liquidity in many financial markets."

Asked about stories HSBC might move back to Hong Kong or to Singapore if the UK regulatory regime became too tough, Flint said: "We are working with the Government and the authorities to try to ensure that London remains attractive for banking. But the decision we take on where we are headquartered will not be based on regulatory arbitrage but from the perspective of doing business."

He admitted there were disadvantages in the UK: "The banking levy is clearly a tax on being headquartered here because we pay it on our global assets, not just our UK ones. Our investors are increasingly asking us the specific costs of being based in London and we cannot answer them as yet."

Flint said he would be happy for HSBC to reveal how many of its employees are paid over £1 million a year "so long as the rest of the industry did so".