HSBC Holdings Plc’s largest shareholder Ping An has called on the bank to be “much more aggressive” in reducing costs by cutting jobs and said the lender’s board lacks experience in Asia, the Financial Times reported on Friday.
It was “urgent” that the bank should go further on cost cutting and bring down its expenses, which are far higher than its rivals, Michael Huang, Ping An Asset Management’s chair, said in an interview to the newspaper.
The report comes months after the China-based shareholder started a campaign to pressure the British lender to explore options, including listing its Asia business to increase shareholder returns.
HSBC had rejected the spin-ff proposal in August, but did not mention Ping An, which has said it was not an activist investor.
Ping An, however, was still pushing for a split and talks were ongoing, the FT report said, citing a person familiar with Ping An’s thinking.
Ping An did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for a comment, while HSBC declined to comment on statements made by Ping An.
Last week, HSBC said it expects to spend moderately less the $7 billion in “costs to achieve” by the end of 2022.
Reuters