HSBC Board ask management to consider deeper cost cutting

HSBC’s board is set to extend the biggest restructuring in the bank’s 155-year history. In February, Europe’s largest lender said it would slash 35,000 jobs, $4.5 billion (€4.1 billion) in costs and $100 billion of risk-weighted assets by radically shrinking its US and European businesses and investment bank. Executives plan to redirect resources to Asia, HSBC’s historical heartland and profit centre.

However, the COVID-19 pandemic has aggravated the situation and hence led the bank to arrive on the fact that the coronavirus crisis requires more drastic measures.

The pandemic, which HSBC fears could saddle it with $11 billion of bad loans this year alone - caused management to pause lay-offs.

However,  the board is now pressing executives to restart the restructuring and come up with even more radical changes, including further cuts or even a possible sale of its US business alongside its retail network in France and operations in smaller non-strategic countries.

Executives are also revisiting a long list of small, non-strategic countries including Malta, Bermuda, the Philippines and New Zealand to see if any of those divisions can be sold or closed. Previous efforts to sell were hampered by a lack of buyers acceptable to local regulators, one of the people said.