'You are the chief arsonists' - Climate protesters interrupt HSBC meeting in Birmingham

The protest started with a man interrupting chairman Mark Tucker to call the company’s investments in fossil fuels a “disgrace”.

He shouted: “How can you possibly justify the way that you’re behaving? Our grandchildren will inherit a polluted planet and they will curse us for it. This is a disgrace and you should be ashamed.

“You are the chief arsonists – this organisation has been described as a financial arson organisation and you are the chief arsonist. I don’t know how you sleep at night knowing that millions of people are going to starve to death because of the investments that this bank is making. You should be ashamed of yourself.”

A few minutes later a woman stood up and also interrupted the meeting at Birmingham’s Eastside Rooms: “In January this year, the public learnt that you gave a secret multimillion-dollar loan to a energy company that was bulldozing a village of Lutzerath in western Germany to expand a huge coalmine”.

She accused HSBC of trying to cover up the deal to avoid public scrutiny, adding: “You are happy to profit while the world burns. HSBC stop the greenwash”.

People started clapping when the protesters stopped speaking.

HSBC chairman Mark Tucker kicked several climate protesters out of the meeting after a series of interruptions.

“Thank you for your patience, security are resolving the situation,” he told shareholders.

Earlier a protester at the meeting sang “HSBC, get your money out of HSBC,” to the tune of the Village People’s YMCA.

Shortly afterwards another man shouted “you are liars, we are sick of your greenwash” to HSBC’s board. He added: “You are stealing my children’s future away from them.”

HSBC revealed profits more than tripled in the first three months of the year as it received a £1.2 billion boost from its rescue takeover of collapsed Silicon Valley Bank’s UK arm.

The group reported pre-tax profits soaring to £10.3 billion for the three months to March 31, up from £3.4 billion a year earlier.

Its results were boosted by gains from its acquisition of SVB UK last month, as well as the reversal of £1.7 billion in write-downs linked to the planned sale of its French retail business to private equity, which is now at risk of falling through.

HSBC bought SVB UK on March 13 for a nominal £1 after SVB failed in the US, sparking fears of a global financial crisis.

Since then, Credit Suisse was also taken over in a rescue deal by Swiss rival UBS and troubles in the sector keep bubbling up.

Mr Tucker used the meeting to repeat his plea to shareholders to vote against a plan which could split the bank in two.

He said of the proposals “we have considered these carefully and fully,” but said he felt they would destroy value at the bank.

“Last year with the benefit of expert advice from third parties, the board considered a wide range of alternative structural options for your bank in depth.

“We concluded that the alternative structural options would materially destroy value for shareholders, including putting your dividends at risk. This remains our unanimous view today.”

The resolution, to spin off the company’s Asian arm, was proposed by a group which has backing from Ping An, HSBC’s largest shareholders.