Fired HSBC manager says disappointing bonuses prove racism

Habib Kaya Biber, the former co-head of the bank’s industrials unit, says he was paid a fraction of the $2.5mn a year paid to rivals at other lenders.

Bloomberg/LondonA former HSBC Holdings executive suing the bank for £15mn ($23mn) said “extremely disappointing” bonus payments were linked to his race and religion, even if no one ever said “you are a Turkish Muslim and I don’t like you.”Habib Kaya Biber, the former co-head of the bank’s industrials unit, said he was paid a fraction of the $2.5mn a year paid to rivals at other lenders. He received a £275,000 salary in 2012 and a £186,282 bonus, Biber said in a statement submitted to a London employment tribunal.My case “is based on compensation that we’ve ultimately seen and inferences we’ve drawn from it,” the 44-year-old Biber said while giving evidence yesterday. “It’s not based on any instance of someone approaching me and saying, you are a Turkish Muslim and I don’t like you.”Biber’s compensation for unfair dismissal would be capped at about £80,000 by UK employment laws, but claims for discrimination on the grounds of race, sex, disability, orientation, religion or age are unlimited. HSBC denies he was treated unfairly and says he was fired because he was a poor performer.“I was certain that my peers had been paid a lot more than me,” Biber said in the witness statement. “I was singled out to be treated differently from other investment banking global sector heads.” During questioning by Anya Proops, the bank’s lawyer, he admitted to lying about a laptop he had claimed he left on a Swiss train, but had kept.“You didn’t just lie to your employer and the Swiss rail authorities, you also lied to your solicitor,” Proops said. “It’s very clear from events surrounding the laptop that you will lie if it suits your purpose.”“I’ve lied on this particular issue,” Biber replied.HSBC said in a filing that Biber’s bonuses and dismissal “were the direct results of his own failure to develop a revenue-rich investment banking business within Industrials.”Some of the bank’s senior staff were unaware Biber was a Muslim because he drank alcohol, Proops said.“Muslims drink alcohol as much as Christians have affairs before marriage,” he replied.During 2011 he advised on a $2.1bn merger, generating $10mn in fees for the bank, Biber said in the witness statement. He received just 30% of the “execution credits,” despite being responsible for securing the deal, he said.“Below board level HSBC is still by culture an old fashioned colonial bank; parts of its internal workings bear striking resemblance to a men’s club,” Biber said in his witness statement. “If you are a member you are fine, if not the outlook is not so good. I was never admitted to the club.”