Information is essential to the finance business – but sometimes it can weigh heavy. The UK’s Post Office was so worried about the weight of HSBC’s annual report that it limited the number that an individual postman could carry, to avoid back injuries.
This is not surprising when you consider the report runs to 454 pages and weighs 1.47 kilogrammes. And HSBC sends out 35,000 hard copies in the UK.
The bank has long complained about over-regulation, and finance director Douglas Flint has described the IFRS accounting standards as “technically beautiful but practically difficult”. The report takes 133 pages to explain them.
Other banks manage better. Goldman Sachs, for example, crams its annual report into a mere 137 pages. There is also a snazzy online version with moving graphics and drop down boxes, removing the need for postmen altogether.
