Stephen Green said on Thursday he would stay on as chairman of HSBC for at least another year and warned Europe's biggest bank was bracing for further economic shocks from heavily indebted developed nations."To be clear, I look forward to chairing the next AGM in 2011," Green told shareholders at the company's annual meeting (AGM) after a weekend newspaper report that he was set to step down later this year.Green said it had become increasingly clear that developing economies would drive global economic recovery."Recovery in the developed world has been much slower and we are not out of the woods yet, as this month's events have reminded us," Green said in the text of a speech."We may yet see further shocks to some western nations as they come to terms with the reality of large national debts."The company said a stockmarket listing in Shanghai remained a high priority "when the authorities are ready" but Green said he did not expect to follow senior management in moving to Asia."We believe the chairman's role must be essentially full-time, and London-based, just as we believe the CEO should be Hong Kong-based," Green said.Executive pay will be a hot topic at Friday's meeting and Green said the bank's new remuneration committee chairman John Thornton would review current policy."We are ... committed to making sure the rewards all our people receive are internationally competitive, whilst also being fully cognisant of the need to be responsible in our approach to remuneration," Green said.Investors have criticised a deal that pays Geoghegan an extra 300,000 pounds ($437,800) a year for living costs after he relocated to Hong Kong earlier this year. He also gets housing and other benefits that could be worth over 500,000 pounds.HSBC has also been criticised for paying a 9 million pounds bonus last year to Stuart Gulliver, head of its investment bank."We recommend that shareholders oppose the remuneration report," said governance body Pirc, which advises institutional investors with combined assets of over 1.5 trillion pounds.(Writing by Paul Hoskins; editing by Myles Neligan)News posted by www.newsinfoline.com
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