- The decision aims to reduce the lenders global footprint, particularly in less lucrative markets.
- HSBC will reportedly assist impacted clients in transitioning to new providers, while retaining only a select group of customers.
HSBC is exiting its US business banking division, a move that impacts thousands of clients and reflects the lender’s ongoing effort to simplify operations and shift resources toward faster-growing markets in Asia and the Middle East.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the decision marks another step in the bank’s strategic overhaul aimed at improving profitability and trimming its global presence. The bank announced the exit after a review, confirming it will close its business banking portfolio in the United States.
HSBC said it will help affected clients transition to new providers and will retain only a select group of customers under its Mid-Market and Global Network Banking units.
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HSBC To Refocus On Core Markets
The move will affect roughly 4,500 clients, according to the Wall Street Journal. Around 40 employees from the division were reportedly laid off, though HSBC declined to comment on job losses.
This exit follows a broader trend for HSBC, which has been shedding parts of its business in less profitable markets. In 2021, it began dismantling its US retail banking operations, selling off profitable segments and shutting down others that were losing money.
More recently, in January, the bank said it would wind down its mergers and acquisitions and some equities operations in the Americas and Europe. The decision also follows HSBC’s sale of its Canadian operations to Royal Bank of Canada, underlining the bank’s ongoing effort to concentrate on core markets.
