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Thursday, 9th September 2010 |
| Forex management and refinancings playing a major role |
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| Alan Duffy, head of HSBC Corporate Banking Ireland sees continued volatility over the coming quarter in the EUR/STG rate which continues to trade in a wide range averaging 90c to 92c. The weakness of sterling is a major issue for Irish clients trading internationally, says Duffy. Duffy spends part of his day showing his clients the options for managing foreign exchange exposure. He also looks at the provision of a bilateral facility locally to refinance a portion of debt with a client. |
7.30am I generally leave for the office around this time every morning, although typically I will have been on the Blackberry for some time before this and today is no different. I’ve changed my routine recently as our offices have moved headquarters from Harcourt Street to Grand Canal Quay on Dublin’s south docklands. There is certainly an extra buzz around the place from being in the new offices and being located in the hub of Ireland’s financial district.
8.00am The first thing I have to do every morning when I get to my desk, apart from grabbing a cup of tea, is to scan and prioritise my emails. HSBC’s global presence means many of our clients operate multi jurisdictionally so there is a strong focus on ‘joining up’ our client touch points across the globe. When I have been through the emails, I take time to have a quick read through the WSJ, the FT and the local press before my first meeting.
8.30am I have a daily briefing with Sean McHale, who recently joined the team from Barclays Capital as our head of treasury. We discuss latest market views and our house views. Continued volatility over the coming quarter is the not unsurprising theme. EUR/STG continues to trade in a wide range averaging 90c to 92c. Sean provides me with a view of client activity over the week ahead, together with an overview of local issuance in the corporate and institutional space.
9.00am We have added a number of new hires to the team over the last six months and we spend some time together discussing client activity locally and internationally. With the fragile state of the markets we stay in even more regular contact with our clients to provide as much support
as possible.
9.30am Today is the weekly HSBC Ireland management team meeting, chaired by Ireland CEO, Simon Wainwright. I am joined around the table by the other heads of our businesses in Ireland - private banking, securities services and insurance, plus our heads of operations, finance, marketing and HR. The meeting is a general update on all our activities. This kind of interaction is key to the way we do business and head of private bank, Rory Quinlan and myself continue afterwards for a discussion on areas where we can offer value to each other’s client portfolio. Private bank’s current position on wealth management is today’s topic.
10.30am I return a client call from earlier this morning. Whilst not immune to the current market turmoil, as an organisation we are well placed to continue to serve our clients’ needs locally and globally. The HSBC brand continues to resonate well. Despite the credit crunch, our clients still require capital and many are seeing opportunities presented as a result of the current instability. In some cases it’s providing opportunities to do business more prudently. I meet with two of our relationship managers, Thomas Kilraine and Michael Lalor to discuss term sheets and we decide together on our next steps with these clients.
11.00am I join a conference call with an internationally diversified leading Irish corporate who operates in a number of markets where HSBC has a presence. The theme is the provision of a bilateral facility locally to refinance a portion of debt. We discuss financing options with the CFO and Group Treasurer. One of their principle concerns is the weakness of sterling. Like many Irish firms trading internationally, the UK is a key market and the current rate has become a major issue. We discuss options for managing foreign exchange exposure. Pricing also tops the agenda as the almost daily widening of spreads is having a material impact on financing options despite the low interest rate environment.
12.15pm Lunch with the CEO and CFO of another client in our offices. The company use HSBC to bank worldwide so we have invited them in to discuss about how we can further grow our relationship and again, provide help with hedging their currency exposure. Irish corporates are increasingly diversifying away from the more traditional overseas markets such as the UK and US. Many are very active in the Far East, Middle East and Central & South America. Given HSBC’s international footprint we are very well positioned to bank these companies globally.
2.00pm Conference call with Human Resources. We finalise the details of the recruitment of a new member of staff. Our new head of trade finance will be transferring into us from HSBC in India. This appointment is part of our ongoing expansion of the corporate banking business in Ireland, and adds to the seven new appointments last year which boosted our relationship management team capabilities.
2.30pm I catch up with Gerry Bradley, our corporate bank head of operations on a daily basis. Gerry keeps me up to speed with the day-to-day operation of the branch, including the volume and value of daily transactions handled for our multinational clients and I sign off on any relevant paperwork.
3.00pm I log onto ‘Global Links’, which is a key management information tool to track referrals of business from one part of the HSBC group to another. We closely track the business we have referred out to the network and the leads provided to us here
in Dublin.
3.30pm External meeting with a potential client. This Irish technology firm wish to discuss financing options for their growing business in mainland China. We facilitate local introductions and open the necessary doors to the HSBC network in the country. We have had a presence in mainland China for almost 150 years.
5.00pm I have an internal marketing meeting with our head of marketing, Martina McDonnell. Our ongoing objective is to further build our credentials as the number one international corporate bank in the Irish market and we are now looking to build greater local brand awareness. The meeting covers our forthcoming tie-ins with Dublin Chamber of Commerce and the event we are hosting for the Ireland - China Association which is in full flow with the Chinese New Year underway.
5.30pm I dedicate around an hour towards the end of the day to replying to all my emails. Although I will have been checking them throughout the day, some will still require attention and I like to make sure that when I come in the next day, there is little outstanding.
6.00pm I prepare some notes for tomorrow’s Operational Risk Review meeting; a regular meeting to ensure all aspects of our business are compliant. I close out the day by making a call to London in respect of an in-process credit application which will hopefully get the ok from our Risk Committee tomorrow, before heading home at around 6.30pm. |
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