Reports doing the rounds that HSBC is planning to relocate its head office to Hong Kong from London for tax reasons have been denied by the financial institution. The biggest bank in Europe went on to state that such assumptions were presumptuous; though, it did speak out against the heavy bank levies.

It was on Sunday that a report appearing in ‘The Sunday Telegraph’, quoted an investor saying that the bank had thought about moving to Hong Kong.

However, Chairman Douglas Flint and CEO Stuart Gulliver have shot down the rumors by saying that such opinions were clearly speculative. A joint statement said that London continues to hold a very important position as a global business center and that the city had earned its current reputation over a period of many centuries.

They went on to inform that the bank still preferred a headquarters in the English city over anywhere else.

The statement did raise worries that the bank had about the prevailing situation in England, as the government is likely to levy a heavier fee on financial institutions. It said that the bank was currently evaluating whether it was sustainable to operate from London.

It was last Monday that HSBC had announced its pre-tax profits for 2010 that was recorded at £11.8 billion pounds.