HSBC will primarily cut senior roles in overhaul of management structure: CEO
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The cuts will take place swiftly, with the outcome of the restructuring to be disclosed in February 2025.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
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SINGAPORE - HSBC’s restructuring is expected to lead to job cuts that will primarily involve those in senior roles as opposed to a company-wide cut, group chief executive Georges Elhedery said during the bank’s third-quarter earnings call on Oct 29.
Mr Elhedery clarified during the call that the bank’s overhaul, first announced on Oct 22, would primarily involve reducing duplicate senior roles.
“The primary reason for this reorganisation is to make us a simpler, leaner organisation with faster decision-making (and) stronger empowerment of our front-line people.”
He added that job cuts will take place swiftly, with the outcome of the restructuring to be disclosed in February 2025.
“In terms of cost savings, our current analysis shows that we expect net benefits from this exercise, with any upfront costs more than compensated for through a short payback period afterwards.”
HSBC said on Oct 22 that it will be simplifying its global operations into four business lines to cut existing inefficiencies such as the duplication of processes and decision-making.
The streamlined business will include standalone divisions in Britain and Hong Kong, and two other divisions comprising international wealth and premier banking, and corporate and institutional banking globally.
Under its current set-up, the bank runs three main divisions – commercial banking, global banking, and wealth and personal banking.
The reorganisation of its management into East and West lines comes after attempts in 2022 and 2023 to spin off the bank’s Asia business
In Singapore, HSBC currently offers services like retail banking, wealth management, commercial banking, investment and private banking and insurance, according to a spokesperson for the bank.
It also offers other specialised services aimed at supporting businesses and investors, like trade financing, trustee services, and securities and capital markets offerings.
HSBC Singapore was not able to comment on the number and type of senior management roles it has here, and if any departures have occurred since the restructuring announcement.
In an interview in June 2023,
While it remains to be seen whether removing duplicate roles will benefit HSBC, Mr Michael Makdad, senior analyst at investment research firm Morningstar, described the move as “risky”.
“Cutting costs is great, but there’s a reason why the costs were there, which is to generate revenue,” he said.
On the other hand, he noted that “HSBC’s current global structure also includes areas that detract from its strengths, which necessitates the restructuring”.
In addition, with US interest rates expected to fall, restraining costs will ultimately become a necessity, he said.
HSBC on Oct 29 announced that it would repurchase up to US$3 billion (S$3.97 billion) worth of its own shares in the coming months.
It also posted an US$8.5 billion profit for the third quarter of 2024, which is up 10 per cent from the same period last year.
Still, Mr Makdad noted that the bank’s recent earnings could have been higher if it had focused on areas where it has a competitive advantage, such as the businesses in Hong Kong and Britain, while reducing activity in other areas.
Shares of HSBC closed flat at HK$71.85 on Oct 30. Since the start of the year, the shares are up by around 14 per cent in Hong Kong.
