Mega-bonus days are over - HSBC chief

HSBC chairman Stephen Green today became the latest banking chief to declare the era of mega-bonuses over, warning that existing schemes "often encouraged too much opacity and excessive risk-taking".

He added that the high-leverage model of finance "is bankrupt" although securitisation selling on parcels of debt will survive.

HSBC has avoided the worst of the toxic mortgage securities and has not needed an injection of Government capital to shore up its balance sheet.

The bank underlined its strength today by paying £347 million for an 89% stake in Indonesian bank Ekonomi.