HSBC in talks to sell South American businesses
2012-05-10 16:00:21
HSBC said Thursday it is in talks to sell assets in several South American countries, as par of the banking giant's plans to streamline its global operations to cut costs.
Europe's biggest bank said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange, where it is listed, that "it is in discussions regarding the possible sale of its operations in Colombia, Peru, Uruguay and Paraguay".
"HSBC will make a further announcement if or when appropriate," the brief statement said, without elaborating on the talks.
HSBC chief executive Stuart Gulliver last year announced plans to focus on high-growth emerging markets and save up to $3.5 billion through asset sales and a war on costs, including axing 30,000 jobs globally by 2013.
HSBC has already disposed its United States credit card and retail services business, as well as the 195-branch network primarily in upstate New York.
In March, it sold its general insurance businesses in Hong Kong, Singapore, Argentina and Mexico for around $914 million. It has also sold its Canadian retail brokerage and exited retail banking in Russia, Chile and Poland.
HSBC -- which unlike many of its rivals survived the 2008 crisis without state aid -- was founded in Hong Kong and Shanghai in 1865, although it remains headquartered in London.