Blackmail?

CityAM reports:

HSBC moved a step closer to leaving the UK yesterday, piling pressure on chancellor George Osborne to take action to persuade the bank to stay.

Chief executive Stuart Gulliver set out details of HSBC’s review of the location of its headquarters, looking at 11 different criteria, including taxes, the government’s attitude to finance, and the stability of the economy and regulatory environment.

I trust that Chancellor Osborne will tell them to bugger off if that's what they want to do.  Does HSBC really wish to entrust itself to the tender mercies of the New York regulatory authorities?  And a move to Hong Kong would bring it under the aegis of Beijing, hardly an improvement on London.  Furthermore, given their sanctions-busting, money-laundering, tax-avoiding history, who would want HSBC on their patch?