Eric Knight, the shareholder activist demanding a review at HSBC, is not in a hurry. The emphasis on “long-term” peppers the interview, which took place just yards from the bank’s former global headquarters.

The managing director of New York-based Knight Vinke Asset Management last week invited other disgruntled shareholders to help him force HSBC to review its “underperforming” strategy and global operations – a demand that the bank has resisted.