Hungarian banking giant OTP – now considered a contender to acquire HSBC’s Maltese operations – was reportedly turned away as a client by HSBC itself just last year, due to reputational concerns.

According to a report by Times of Malta, HSBC's London office rejected a request by OTP in April 2024 to assist with issuing bonds on international markets. Sources familiar with the matter told the newspaper that following internal due diligence, HSBC cited the reputational risk of onboarding OTP as a client, ultimately deciding that the transaction fell outside its risk appetite.

Among the red flags highlighted in HSBC’s internal review were OTP’s continued operations in Russia, as well as links between the bank’s Chair and CEO, Sándor Csányi, and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Although OTP stated in 2022 that it was open to exiting the Russian market, a decree signed by Putin made the divestment of Western banks from Russia increasingly difficult. The bank remains active in the country, recording a post-tax profit of approximately €350 million in 2023.

OTP has also faced controversy over its continued business operations in Russia, where it reportedly serves as many as three million customers despite EU sanctions imposed after Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. This led Ukraine to place OTP on a list of "international sponsors of war," although OTP Group, speaking to WhosWho.mt, said that the allegations leading to its placement on the list were repeatedly refuted and “ultimately proven to be false”. The bank was not only temporarily lifted from the list but was later removed from it entirely before the list itself was discontinued.

Further reinforcing its industry standing, OTP Bank stated that it was recently ranked as Europe’s top-performing bank in S&P Global Market Intelligence’s 2024 ranking of Europe’s 50 largest listed banks.