HSBC bank is considering cutting down at least five hundred jobs from its investment banking activities. Insiders reported this to the Bloomberg news agency. The intervention must result in cost savings, one of the major spearheads of top man John Flint, who took office last year.
There have been signs that HSBC wants to cut the number of positions for investment banking activities for a long time, but earlier dozens of jobs were said to be at risk. The job reduction is said to start in early June. The intervention would be part of a broader reform program at the bank, called Project Oak.
Flint is said to have complained on several occasions about the inability of managers of Europe’s largest bank to control costs. He would have accused managers of “incompetence” at a closed meeting in March.
An intervention in the investment bank activities makes sense from the cost point of view. The salaries for these positions, which include trading in shares and bonds, are often among the highest within a bank.
HSBC said in a response that parts of the financial concern are constantly reviewing their staffing needs to ensure that they have the right people in the right places. The bank did not provide any substantive comments.
