With HSBC facing tough regulation they have announced that they are considering relocating their U.K. headquarters.

While Britain is focused on the general election that will take place in two weeks time from now others are considering running away from the British government. HSBC Holdings PLC, has stated that it is considering moving its headquarters from the U.K. due to high taxes and regulatory costs.

Douglas Flint, chairman of HSBC said that the public will be informed about the bank’s relocation plans as soon as they make a firm decision. Investors and other senior board members have been pushing him to do this for quite some time since HSBC lost roughly 1.1 billion dollars last year; more than any other lender.

As elections are coming close both the Labour and Conservative parties made their programs public and in both parties regulations for banks and financiers are very harsh, making the relocation to another country a better move for a company facing such tough industry changes.

Investors are pleased with the news and are lobbying for relocation as they will be able to free up more capital abroad than in the U.K. HSBC jumped 3.8 percent in London trading, which is their biggest rise in the last three months.

Another reason why the bank is considering leaving Britain is the possible parting of ways with the EU. The Conservative party made a promise to hold a referendum about this matter if they win the election. The opinion of the bank is that if the U.K. was to leave the EU it would not help the economy.

A source close to the bank mentioned that HSBC has been thinking about this move since 2010 and their annual profit drop of 17 percent that was made public this February is the main reason why this idea came to light now. The final decision will be released on June 9, after the bank’s strategic review.

It is highly possible that the new headquarters will be Hong Kong. HSBC already has a base in the former British colony and it’s estimated the relocation would cost around 1.5 billion dollars.

Some people are criticizing the announcement as a “remarkable coincidence” since the banks recently Swiss banking scandal. This happened just a couple of months ago when a previous employee of HSBC released information of hundreds of their clients who were using the bank to avoid paying tax through their Swiss private banking division.

HSBC is not the only company considering moving their business out of the U.K. Standard Chartered is being pressured by investors to move its operations outside of the country due to tax reduction and incentives other countries would give to move the business into their economies.