HSBC chief executive Noel Quinn and chairman Mark Tucker were in an unusually jovial mood in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
HSBC has launched a hunt for a new chief executive after Noel Quinn unexpectedly stepped down to pursue a better work-life balance.
Taxpayers will cover £85bn of losses made by the Bank of England on its quantitative easing programme which began during the global financial crisis, according to the latest estimates.