HSBC executives cautioned that the UK Financial Services Authority, the bank's chief regulator, would also have to sign off on the appointments.

So, very crudely, the thing on the wall is the switch DNA, your finger is the regulator, and gene expression is the light turning on or turning off.

The regulator on April 20 required shareholders looking to sell more than 1 percent of a stock to do so in single trades, to keep the transactions off the open market.