Dividends, strategy in focus as HSBC, Standard Chartered prepare to report full-year results

HSBC and Standard Chartered are expected to unveil plans to restart paying dividends to shareholders, as the lenders prepare to report their fourth-quarter results this week against the backdrop of increasing optimism about a return to more normal business conditions.HSBC will be the first of Hong Kong’s three currency-issuing banks to report its full-year results on Tuesday, while its 62.1 per cent-owned Hang Seng Bank will also report on the same day. Standard Chartered will follow on…