HSBC to restructure global banking division in bid to cut costs
HSBC is planning to restructure its global banking division in an effort to slash costs and make the business more "agile", according to reports.
The bank issued an internal memo today, outlining the reorganisation, which is part of plans announced last June to cut one in five roles and shrink its investment bank by a third.
HSBC said the new structure was a continuation of plans announced by Samir Assaf and Robin Phillips at the end of February, when the firm's financing (products) and global banking (sectors) divisions were merged into one global banking unit.
According to the group, the new structure will "deliver a more cost efficient structure and generate synergies within global banking".
The bank has not confirmed how many jobs will be cut as a result of the restructuring.
"The purpose of the new structure is to enable us better to deliver seamless coverage to our clients, optimise our product capability and allow us to become more agile and holistic," Robin Phillips and Matthew Westerman, co-heads of global banking, wrote in a memo to staff. "It will also support our ambition of becoming a consistent top three strategic banking partner to our clients."
The move follows last week's announcement that dozens of senior roles in the investment banking division would be axed.
And earlier this month, the bank said it would move nearly 1,000 technology jobs out of the UK. Around 840 jobs will be moved from London, Sheffield and Tankersley in Yorkshire, to other locations around the world, including China, India and Poland.