Equities trading led the way as underlying profits at HSBC’s global banking and markets arm rose 14% last year, but bonuses fell as the bank slashed its group-wide bonus pool by a fifth – more than $800 million – to reflect fines and penalties.

The UK bank remuneration committee chairman, Sam Laidlaw, said in the bank's annual report, published alongside its full-year results on February 22, that the group-wide bonus pool was automatically adjusted by $431 million "to reflect fines, penalties and the cost of customer redress", while it fell by a further $398 million after the committee decided to trim the bonus payout ratio for staff.