HONG KONG/LONDON — HSBC Holdings PLC said on Tuesday it would shed $100 billion in assets, shrink its investment bank and revamp its U.S. and European businesses in a drastic overhaul that will mean 35,000 jobs cut over three years. The bank, which has struggled to keep pace with leaner and more focused rivals, is seeking to become more competitive as it grapples with slowing growth in its major markets, the coronavirus epidemic, Britain's European Union exit and lower central bank interest rates. In the latest in a series of overhauls since the 2008 financial crisis, HSBC said it would merge its private banking and wealth businesses, axe European stock trading and cut U.S. retail branches as it seeks to remove $4.5 billion in costs. "The totality of this program is that our headcount is likely to go from 235,000 to closer to 200,000 over the next three years," Noel Quinn, interim chief executive, told Reuters.

Source: International New York Times February 18, 2020 05:38 UTC