HSBC to Wind Down Business Banking Unit in US

HSBC is reportedly winding down its business banking unit in the U.S. as it sharpens its focus on other markets.

As it disbands the business banking unit, which served small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in the U.S., the bank laid off 40 employees earlier this week and notified the unit’s 4,400 clients, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported Friday (May 30).

“We are supporting … clients while they transition to a suitable alternative provider,” an HSBC spokeswomantold the WSJ.

HSBC has been withdrawing from some international markets and focusing on Hong Kong and the U.K., which are its home markets, and Asia, according to the report.

Those moves have accelerated since CEO Georges Elhedery took that role in the fall, the report said.

Earlier this year, HSBC said it will stop advising companies on making deals and going public in the U.S. and Europe, per the report.

Before that, it sold its U.S. retail banking business in 2021 and its Canadian operations in 2022, according to the report.

In the U.S., HSBC still has a wealth division, a wholesale bank for big corporate customers, and a growing business focused on startups in the U.S. and around the world. The startup-focused business is based on Silicon Valley Bank’s U.K. subsidiary, which HSBC acquired in 2023, per the report.

When HSBC announced in July that Elhedery would become CEO in September, Sir Mark Tucker, HSBC’s chairman, said of Elhedery: “He has a track record of leading through change, driving growth, delivering simplification and containing costs.”

Elhedery has been with HSBC since 2005 and was serving as the bank’s chief financial officer at the time he was appointed CEO.

“Working together with our talented team, I look forward to delivering exceptional value to our clients and investors by driving strong performance on a sustainable growth trajectory,” he said at the time of the appointment.

In October, HSBC announced a restructuring that it said would streamline decision-making and eliminate redundancies.

“By making these changes, we can better focus on increasing leadership and market share in those businesses which have clear competitive advantage and the greatest opportunities to grow,” Elhedery said at the time.

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