Union Unite criticized the plan, saying 108 of the closures would leave customers with no bank within three miles.
HSBC said it was responding to changing customer behavior, with more people banking online, and that it would invest tens of millions of pounds into its remaining branches. The lender is now shrinking wherever it sees itself as too bloated, and exiting where it is sub-scale compared to local players, spurred on by pressure from its biggest shareholder, Ping An Insurance Group of China.
HSBC’s business in New Zealand is small, generating a pretax profit of NZ$51-million in 2021, according to a public filing of its accounts.
Its finding less places to launder drug money