Taking the helm about six months ago, Elhedery has unleashed a sweeping overhaul at the bank, leading to the exit of several senior executives. He combined the commercial and investment banking units and made operations in the UK and Hong Kong standalone businesses. He shuttered most of its mergers and acquisition and equity underwriting operations in the US, UK and continental Europe.
HSBC Holdings expects to double down on investment banking operations in Asia and the Middle East after exiting key business in Europe and the US, CEO Georges Elhedery said.
The bank will focus on debt and other financing activities in Asia as well as mergers and acquisitions and equity capital markets in the Middle East, Elhedery said in an exclusive Bloomberg TV interview on Tuesday at an HSBC conference in Hong Kong. The restructuring will save US$1.5 billion in efficiency cost and enable the bank to invest in areas where it has more competitive edge to generate “quality” revenue, he said.
