The UK’s Sunday Times said Ping An Insurance Group, HSBC’s biggest shareholder, was the independent third party that commissioned the Toto report, without saying where it got the information. A spokesperson for Ping An declined to comment if it was behind the analysis.
A break up of HSBC Holdings Plc’s Asian unit could unlock US$26.5 billion, or a fifth of its current market value, according to research that could substantiate a push from its largest shareholder to overhaul the bank.
Two other scenarios that could benefit shareholders are for HSBC to spin off the Asian business or just its Hong Kong retail operations into partial initial public offerings, Toto Consultancy said in a June 8 report. A disclaimer in the report showed the analysis was commissioned by an independent third party.
