On March 3, it will be 150 years since the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation opened for business. Normally such a milestone would prompt celebration: After all, the bank founded by colonial merchants now ranks among the world’s largest financial institutions. However, any merriment is likely to be mute. For HSBC, the birthday brings challenges as great as any it has ever faced.

A US bank manager who insisted she gave the $340,000 (€230,000) US dollars she stole over eight years to needy customers was sentenced to a year and a day in prison by a judge who declared that her “Robin Hood days are long over”.