HSBC is to lay off hundreds of top bankers as bosses scramble to cut costs and slim down the sprawling organisation.
Swathes of managers in the bank’s newly-formed corporate and institutional banking division have been asked to reapply for their jobs, with interviews reportedly already underway.
The process, which will lead to several hundred people losing their jobs, effectively pits senior staff from the corporate banking arm against those in the global banking and markets unit.
As part of the overhaul, HSBC will phase out its use of general manager titles and instead give senior staff managing director titles, Bloomberg reported.
HSBC, which employs more than 215,000 staff worldwide, has slashed tens of thousands of duplicated roles in recent years to improve efficiency and cut costs as it grapples with an economic slowdown in China, its most important market. HSBC declined to comment.
The shake-up comes as Georges Elhedery, the new chief executive, seeks to strip a reported $300m (£238m) in costs from the banking giant.
HSBC enjoyed a jump in profits to $8.5bn in the third quarter as it continued to reap the benefits of high interest rates.
But an expected fall in rates could put profits under pressure, while operating costs have continued to rise. The bank’s share price has also lagged rivals despite a string of buybacks.