HSBC is working on the feasibility of transferring call centre operations from Asia to Malta, an unusual reversal of investment migration trends, HSBC Malta's chief executive officer Shaun Wallis said yesterday.
Speaking during the afternoon session of the Commonwealth Business Forum, Mr Wallis said the bank is currently employing 10 people on a pilot call centre, which, if successful, could see the setting up of a fully-fledged operation employing up to 350 people.
He also announced the imminent transfer of back office work of life insurance business from Dublin and the setting up of an insurance management firm presently based in Guernsey, UK.
The pilot project, part of a feasibility study carried out by the bank, started this week. "The purpose of this pilot project is to confirm that the level of customer experience will satisfy the needs and aspirations of these UK and EU customers," he said.
If the customers are satisfied, the move is feasible and all approvals are given, the bank intends to start operating with a 160-seat call centre, which, on a shift basis probably equates to some 300 to 350 employees.
"However, I must emphasise that this is still a pilot and the business case has to be finalised and proven," he continued.
The new centre - handling in-bound calls from the bank's high value clients - would form part of the UK-based HSBC bank but will operate in Malta with the support of HSBC Bank Malta. Recruitment of new employees could begin in 2006.
The transfer would consolidate a trend that seems to have started last March with the setting up of HSBC International Financial Advisers (Malta) Limited, HSBC Group's first affiliate office in Europe, based in Malta.
The company was set up to provide investment services to expatriates and customers with international financial needs across the EU.
HSBC's experience in Malta is without doubt positive, Mr Wallis told the delegates. The company started off with a small office in 1996, moving on to the eventual purchase of Mid-Med Bank and its re-branding to HSBC.
When asked from the floor about the transfer of back office operations to Malta from relatively renowned centres such as Dublin, Mr Wallis said that all financial jurisdictions seem to reach a saturation point in the niches they carve for themselves.
Workings are showing that Malta is increasingly emerging as more cost effective in this respect. In fact, he said the bank was looking into the possibility of developing more Malta-based insurance business, suggesting that more may be in the pipeline.
The administration is accessible and issues can be discussed fast, he said when speaking of the local commercial environment.
As for the Maltese labour force and the sound regulatory system and infrastructure, points honed on by previous speakers, Mr Wallis said these were some of the country's biggest assets in terms of attracting investment.