HSBC is speeding up plans to withdraw from key emerging markets in order to shrink its operations, the Financial Times has reported.
The new strategic plan will lead to the bank’s withdrawal from retail banking in Brazil and Turkey, followed by other underperforming operations.
Parts of HSBC’s investment banking business will also be cut, reported the newspaper.
According to the Financial Times report, the move indicates a deeper and swifter retrenchment than the three-year strategy outlined by HSBC CEO Stuart Gulliver after he took over in 2011.
The bank has been hit by financial crisis apart from being accused of a scandal in relation to its Swiss private bank which helped numerous wealthy clients evade taxes.
One top-20 shareholder said: "Do they still need to be in every retail banking market? Do they really need to battle away as the number four bank in Brazil or in Turkey where they are even smaller? There are big questions."
