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Hong Kong — HSBC has laid off about 40 investment bankers in Hong Kong, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter, as part of a global restructuring exercise at the Asia-focused lender to cut costs.
The job cuts in its regional hub Hong Kong started on Monday, said the person and another source with knowledge of the matter, and comes ahead of the London-headquartered bank releasing its full-year results on Wednesday.
At least four MDs were let go, with three of them based in Hong Kong and one in Singapore, said one of the sources, who declined to be named as the job cuts at the bank were not public.
The most-affected investment banking sectors are consumer, resources and energy, as well as M&A, each of which let go about five bankers, according to the source.
About four dealmakers each were made redundant at the technology, media and telecommunications division and financial institutions group, while the healthcare and Hong Kong coverage teams also experienced a few cuts, the source said.
HSBC declined to comment on the latest round of job cuts in Hong Kong. IFR first reported the layoffs on Monday.
Hong Kong-listed shares of HSBC were up 1.7% on Tuesday, underperforming a 2.1% gain in the benchmark Hang Seng index . The shares hit an 11½ year high earlier on Tuesday.
The investment banking job cuts also come after HSBC last month announced plans to wind down its M&A and some equities businesses in Europe and the Americas in a bid to boost returns.
HSBC’s latest restructuring is being led by its CEO, Georges Elhedery, who took the helm in September. He has been taking steps to boost returns and tighten the bank’s focus on Asia, where it earns most of its profit.
As part of the overhaul, the bank said in October that it would combine some of its commercial and investment banking businesses and had installed a new leadership structure.
It also planned to carve up its operations into four business lines, namely UK, Hong Kong, corporate and institutional banking, and wealth banking.
Reuters
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