When HSBC first told its shareholders about mounting losses on US mortgages early in 2007, few investors realised the bank had in effect provided an early warning of the credit crisis.

After almost two years of extreme turmoil in global financial services, however, investors are paying close attention to HSBC’s pronouncements. So the bank’s decision to raise £12.5bn in fresh capital from its investors and cut its dividend for the first time any of its executives can remember was bound to send a shudder through the markets.