HSBC plans major global expansion of office and staff surveillance, documents show

LONDON - HSBC plans to step up surveillance of staff and buildings by adding more cameras and biometric access to its premises globally, internal documents seen by Reuters show, a move that comes amid growing concerns about companies’ extensive monitoring of workers.

As part of its “global security strategy”, the bank plans to have a fourfold increase in the number of cameras at its new building in the City of London, a site about half the size of its existing office in Canary Wharf, an internal presentation by the bank’s protective security team dated May 2025 shows.

According to the presentation, the new London building is expected to have an estimated 1,754 cameras, up from about 444 devices installed in its current global headquarters in Canary Wharf in London.

It also plans to double its biometric readers to access the new building to 779 from 350.

Under the plan, reported here for the first time, access to HSBC’s top-tier buildings, including in Britain and the US, should be based on biometric verification, including full-hand recognition.

Access can also be “digital”, with employees expected to use their own mobile phones to badge in, the document shows.

HSBC, Europe’s biggest bank by assets, employs more than 210,000 people globally, including more than 31,000 across Britain.

Most employees are expected to use personal mobile phones with firm-installed software on them to gain access. This has been met with some resistance from staff, a person with knowledge of the policies said.

As at the end of 2024, most of the British staff had yet to adhere to the biometric and digital access policy which the bank started to implement in 2022, in part because of opposition, according to the person.

“The safety and security of our people is at the forefront of everything HSBC does,” an HSBC representative told Reuters.

“We regularly risk assess every building and dependent on the identified risk and vulnerabilities, we continue to invest in the latest cutting-edge technology to safeguard our colleagues, customers and visitors in line with industry standards,” the bank added.

Companies have increased surveillance of staff amid a shift to hybrid working, while advances in technology allow for more sophisticated controls.

Banks, in particular, have stepped up monitoring to ensure the parts of their businesses that are heavily regulated comply with conduct rules. National privacy laws determine what companies can monitor.

The extensive surveillance enabled by new technologies is raising concerns about risks to workers’ rights and well-being, according to a May report by the Institute for Public Policy Research, a London-based think-tank.

In July, HSBC requested that senior staff globally report to the office at least four days a week, starting from October, a bank spokesperson said. Previously, it had no global policy on the matter, with approaches varying depending on the country.

As demands for office space grow again, the bank has decided to add to its planned City of London HQ, with a new, smaller presence in Canary Wharf, Reuters reported.

The documents seen by Reuters do not include references to the new Canary Wharf office space.

Israeli surveillance tools

HSBC has been working with Israeli firm Octopus since at least 2024, adopting some of its tools for surveillance in Britain and Hong Kong and it is planning more roll-outs for monitoring, other documents outlining HSBC’s global strategy seen by Reuters show.

HSBC has plans to deploy Octopus tools in other countries such as India and Mexico in 2025, according to the documents, which are undated.

Israel is one of the world’s leading exporters of surveillance. Octopus says it sells its tools to buyers in 28 countries. Its technology has been reportedly used by entities, including the Israeli government to monitor some Israeli cities.

In HSBC’s new London building, the increased video surveillance will include cameras at entry and exit points of trading floors, the May 2025 presentation shows, and the use of artificial intelligence analytics.

HSBC’s budget for the initial roll-out of the new London building surveillance was recently tripled to about US$15 million (S$19.3 million), the person familiar with the matter said.

According to the presentation, “theft incidents” in its Canary Wharf building “point to the need for increased CCTV capabilities on working floors”, and recent “crime data” showed an increase of incidents, including burglary, within a one-mile radius of the new office.

The person familiar with the matter said that theft events on HSBC premises were mostly minor. REUTERS