HSBC to slash 2,000 UK jobs in global cost-cutting spree
HSBC will announce that it is culling 2,000 jobs in the UK this morning as part of its programme to cut 30,000 roles by the end of next year.
The cuts will include some London-based jobs in wealth management, which it is understood the bank is shrinking in response to the retail distribution review (RDR), a new set of regulations on investment management that will come into force next year.
HSBC expects the RDR to shrink the revenues it can generate from the wealth management division.
Many of the other cuts will fall on IT and retail positions as part of the strategic review that kicked off last year, which is now in its second phase.
Job cuts have already fallen on the bank’s businesses in Hong Kong and the Middle East as part of chief executive Stuart Gulliver’s efforts to cut costs by slimming down the bank.
Staff will be told this morning whether their jobs are on the line.
HSBC, which employs 52,000 in Britain, made a profit of $3.5bn (£2.1bn) in its British businesses last year, up from $2.4bn in 2010.