A plan by the new boss of HSBC to split the bank’s operations internally between East and West has led to fresh calls for the sprawling lender to pursue a full break-up.
Georges Elhedery, who became HSBC’s chief executive last month, is aiming to simplify the group through an overhaul he unveiled on Tuesday that includes creating standalone divisions for its Hong Kong business and the bulk of its UK operations and the partition of other businesses into Eastern and Western market regions.
The idea is to streamline the FTSE 100 bank and cut costs but it has also led to renewed scrutiny of the geographic pressures facing the business and fuelled questions about its future.
Rajiv Jain, whose investment firm GQG Partners