HSBC London Bankers Brace for Job Cuts Amid Asia Shift -- Financial News
22 Febrero 2021 - 10:25AM
Noticias Dow Jones
By Paul Clarke and William Canny
Of Financial News
Mid-ranking bankers at HSBC Holdings PLC in London are braced
for more cuts as the bank looks to shift more leadership and
business away from the U.K. toward Asia.
As well as moving some of its most senior executives to Hong
Kong, the bank is also likely to target mid-ranking employees in
London for cuts as it moves more roles to Asia, according to three
insiders at the bank.
In recent weeks, employees within the global markets, investment
bank as well as infrastructure and operational roles have held
informal conversations about potentially moving their positions
from London to Asia, the people said. In some cases, their position
in London is likely to be put at risk, they added, or a number
mid-ranking positions in the U.K.--at director level--are being
consolidated into a more senior position in Asia.
"One tactic is to replace a number of director positions in
London with a more senior position, usually managing director,
often in Asia," said one senior banker. "There is a lot of middle
management in the U.K."
An HSBC spokesman declined to comment.
HSBC is in the midst of a huge strategic overhaul and will
eventually strip out 35,000 jobs as the bank looks to cut costs and
focus on its core markets. The U.K. and the Middle East remain
important for the bank, but it is also accelerating efforts to
shift more resources to Asia.
Top executives in London are expected to relocate to Hong Kong
as part of the bank's efforts to intensify its focus on Asia, which
is still its biggest market.
Gary Greenwood, a bank analyst at Shore Capital, said that
HSBC's U.K. investment banking unit has been going through a "yo-yo
effect" for a number of years. "The bank looks to build up its
investment bank in the U.K., never quite gets there and then looks
to downsize again. It makes much more sense to allocate more
resources and capital to Asia, where they are in a very strong
position," he said.
HSBC's Asian operations made $20.9 billion in revenues in the
first nine months of 2020, or 54% of group earnings over the same
period.
Gregg Guyett, the bank's co-head of global banking and markets,
is expected to move from London to Hong Kong, as is Barry O'Byrne,
who runs its commercial bank, and Nuno Matos, who has just been
promoted to head of wealth and personal banking. The moves would
mean that leaders of three of HSBC's biggest business units will be
in Asia.
On Tuesday, HSBC will reveal its full-year results and is also
expected to unveil a series of new strategic initiatives, including
the closure of its U.S. retail banking network and a renewed focus
on Asia. Last year, the U.K. lender said it would remove $100
billion in risk weighted assets, cut thousands of jobs as it pulls
back from non-core business units including European equities.
In October, bank executives said around 6,000 jobs had been cut,
and hinted that the effects of the Covid-19 crisis could lead to a
more radical overhaul.
Mark Tucker, HSBC's chairman, said last month that the bank
needed to "up the pace, up the intensity and up the delivery" of
its overhaul. In the third quarter, profits at HSBC fell by 31% to
$3.2 billion on the same period in 2019.
The bank unveiled a number of regional leadership appointments
on Monday ahead of its results, also putting its transformation
program in the hands of its chief financial officer, Ewen
Stevenson.
Colin Bell, formerly the bank's group chief compliance officer,
will take over from Mr. Matos as CEO of HSBC Europe and its U.K.
ring-fenced bank HSBC Bank PLC. Stephen Moss, who is responsible
for overseeing HSBC's business in Europe excluding the U.K., will
relocate to Dubai for the position CEO for Middle East, North
Africa and Turkey and Michael Robertson is now chief executive for
the U.S., Latin America and Canada.
HSBC's overhaul stalled during the pandemic, when it promised to
pause any job cuts at the height of the Covid-19 crisis in March.
However, by August the bank had restarted its transformation
program with Chief Executive Noel Quinn telling staff that the
changes announced last February were "even more necessary
today."
He said the bank would look to redeploy people where possible.
"I don't want to over-promise, though, as colleagues will
regrettably be leaving us this year where we are unable to provide
them with alternative roles within HSBC," Mr. Quinn added.
Website: www.fnlondon.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 22, 2021 11:10 ET (16:10 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Hsbc (LSE:HSBA)
Gráfica de Acción Histórica
De Mar 2024 a Abr 2024
Hsbc (LSE:HSBA)
Gráfica de Acción Histórica
De Abr 2023 a Abr 2024