HSBC bows to shareholder pressure

HSBC has caved in to Knight Vinke, the activist shareholder, which questioned the independence of the bank's non-executive directors and accused it of underperformance. The bank has been shopping at French supermarket Carrefour for a new board member, and late on Friday it appointed the retailer's chief executive and chairman, Jose Luis Duran, as a new non-executive director. But the move is unlikely to silence Vinke.