merged some operations and split its geographic footprint into East and West in a sweeping restructuring under new CEO Georges Elhedery that also included the appointment of the bank’s first female finance chief.
The latest overhaul comes as HSBC, which employs about 214,000 people globally, tries to remove duplicate roles and shift its focus to Asia in a bid to cap costs and bolster income as falling interest rates worldwide hurt margins. Executives in that division, however, have sought to protect their clients from cross-selling efforts by investment bankers in HSBC’s Global Banking division, sources at the bank have previously said.
“Cost-cutting is a big driver of these changes, with fresh efficiencies likely through the simplification of its geographical structures,” said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown. “The announcement today is just moving around different parts of the group, with no change to the big picture,” Ben Toms, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, said.