Ping An Insurance Co. has held discussions with the bank on the idea of spinning off HSBC’s Asian operations and listing them separately in Hong Kong, according to people familiar with the matter. The shareholder believes a spinoff would win broad investor support.
A spokesperson for Ping An declined to comment. A spokesperson for HSBC didn’t respond to requests for comment. Shares in HSBC were up 1.7% at 4:22 p.m. in London. The changes seek to tap into China’s rising affluence and the country’s financial opening-up while also expanding in other markets across Asia.
Still, the bank’s headquarters remain in the U.K., and several recent incidents have pulled the lender between the traditions of the West and the rise of China. HSBC froze the accounts of democracy activists protesting China’s crackdown on freedom of expression in Hong Kong. That drew criticism from U.K. lawmakersBreaking up the bank could follow the Prudential Plc playbook. The insurance group split its Asian unit from its U.K. operations in 2019, but kept its listing in London.