HSBC to close personal and wealth banking business in New Zealand via Reuters

June 13 (Reuters) – HSBC has decided to spin off its personal and wealth banking business in New Zealand, as part of its strategy to shed less profitable businesses globally to focus on expansion in some Asian markets, the bank said on Tuesday.

The process, resulting from a strategic review, will be phased in over several years, according to a statement.

It said the London-based financial institution “can no longer justify investing in this business given the changing operational requirements of the market and the adaptability of the business”.

The decision comes after the bank said last year that it was reviewing the market with a view to selling its retail banking business.

New Zealand is the latest market on the map where the London- and Hong Kong-listed bank has decided to withdraw.

HSBC, Europe’s biggest bank, is considering exiting one of the five markets it operates in to focus on Asian expansion, Chief Financial Officer Georges Elhedery told Reuters in May.

Its pivot to Asia has already prompted sales plans for its businesses in France, Greece, Russia and Canada.

(Reporting by Mirunmai Dey (Bangalore) and Selena Li (Hong Kong); Editing by Tanya Ann Thobell and Stephen Coates; Spanish editing by Jose Muñoz.