HSBC announces plans to sell Brazil and Turkey operations

British bank HSBC announced Tuesday (June 9) it intends to sell its operations in Brazil and Turkey. A statement said the bank is planning to save $4.5-$5 billion by 2017 with its restructuring plan. However, it still wants to maintain a presence in Brazil to serve large corporate clients.

According to the announcement, the bank is seeking to increase its investments in Asia, mainly in China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region, by expanding asset management and insurance with a focus on emerging markets.

“The world is increasingly connected, with Asia expected to show high growth and become the centre of global trade over the next decade. I am confident that our actions will allow us to capture expected future growth opportunities and deliver further value to shareholders,” Stuart Gulliver, Group Chief Executive, said in a note.

The overhaul is expected to shed 50,000 jobs, including 25,000 with the sale of Brazil and Turkey operations. Established in 1865, HSBC (acronym for the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) currently employs 266,000 people worldwide.

The announcement came five days after the bank closed an agreement with Swiss authorities to pay $42.8 million to settle a money laundering case against its Switzerland subsidiary. In a statement, the bank said that neither the organization nor its employees are charged with any wrongdoing. HSBC apologized to its customers and investors for the failures with the Switzerland operations and said it has revised its procedures.

HSBC Switzerland had been under investigation since February in a case known as the Swiss Leaks, when a former employee of HSBC in Geneva leaked documents to French newspaper Le Monde and shared them with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (which includes professionals from over 40 countries).

*With information from Radio France Internationale

Translated by Mayra Borges