HSBC Holdings Plc (NYSE:HSBC) is cutting staff in a big way.
The bank has announced that it is going to slash 35,000 staff from its global workforce and is taking $7.3 billion of charges. The London-based lender is targeting cost reductions of $4.5 billion at underperforming units throughout the U.S. and Europe.
At the same time, HSBC plans to continue accelerating investments in Asia, where the bank draws the bulk of its profits but is grappling with risks from the Hong Kong protests and China’s coronavirus outbreak.
The cutbacks will extend into parts of HSBC’s European and U.S. investment banking businesses, particularly in fixed income. In the U.S., assets linked to its trading operations will be nearly halved under the restructuring. HSBC is also scaling back its retail network by 30%.
And, HSBC announced that it is suspending share buybacks for 2020 and 2021, when most of the restructuring will occur. Shares of HSBC fell more than 5% in London trading Tuesday, the most in three years.
