LONDON (AP) – HSBC Holdings, Europe’s largest bank by market value, will cut up to 25,000 jobs around the world to reduce costs and shift its center of gravity back toward the fast-growing Asian economies where it started operations 150 years ago.
The bank, which is currently based in London, said Tuesday it is “undertaking a significant reshaping of its business portfolio” and “redeploying resources to capture expected future growth opportunities.”
Though it has not yet decided whether to move its headquarters, the bank’s statement shows clearly where it thinks its commercial future lies – China and the Asia-Pacific region.
As well as having an already sizeable presence across Asia, HSBC has historic ties to the region. It was founded in Hong Kong in 1865 when the city was a British colony in order to finance growing trade between China and Europe, much of it involving opium. Its original name, later shortened to HSBC, says it all: The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation.
“The world is increasingly connected, with Asia expected to show high growth and become the center of global trade over the next decade,” said Stuart Gulliver, HSBC’s chief executive. “We recognize that the world has changed and we need to change with it.”