HSBC’s US Bonuses: A Closer Look
If you were worried about HSBC bonuses, well so were we. It turns out that concerns were at least partly misplaced though.
People working for HSBC’s US debt capital markets (DCM) business in particular, seem to have received fine bonuses for last year. We understand that the increases were substantial. Bonuses were high to the point of astonishment.
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HSBC’s declined to comment in any detail on this show of generosity. A spokesman for the bank said: “We are committed to attracting and retaining talent as part of HSBC’s high-performance culture, ensuring our employees are rewarded competitively.”
Recent Trends in HSBC’s DCM Business
Data from the London Stock Exchange Group says HSBC’s DCM business ranked 12th in the US for the first two months of 2025, but is up to 10th for the same period of this year.
The US DCM business has lost many people in the past few years, with insiders claiming that there have been 30+ exits. More recently, HSBC parted company with three US DCM MDs, two of whom had been there for nearly two decades each, a week before bonuses were announced. It’s also recruited: Jake Hartman, for example, joined as head of FIG DCM from Barclays in August.
HSBC’s US DCM business is run by Patrice Altongy. Altongy arrived from Citi in 2021 when HSBC overhauled its business and ejected incumbents like Robert Gelnaw, who previously ran DCM and had been there for nearly 20 years.
Altongy began her career in M&A at Citi before moving into capital markets. She hasn’t always been popular with HSBC’s longstanding DCM bankers in New York, but this could change now that they’re paid so finely.
Insights from HSBC’s Annual Report
HSBC’s annual report this week revealed that it paid 511 material risk takers in the investment bank globally an average of $1.4m in 2025, including salaries and bonuses.
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