LONDON, Oct 4 (Reuters) – HSBC is considering a sale of its Canadian business, one of the country’s largest international banking brands, to boost returns demanded by its largest shareholder, a spokesman for HSBC said on Tuesday. .
“We are currently reviewing strategic options for our wholly owned subsidiary in Canada,” the bank said in an emailed statement.
The review is at an early stage and no final decision has been made, but one option is to sell the bank’s 100% stake in HSBC Canada, the spokesman said.
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The sale would represent the latest in a series of divestments from HSBC, which once called itself the “local bank of the world”.
HSBC announced in May last year that it would exit mass-market banking in the United States, and in June also said it would sell its French retail business as part of a plan to boost profits and fend off the breakup of China’s Ping An Insurance Group’s Asian operations.
Ping An began a campaign in April to pressure the British bank to explore options including listing its Asian operations to boost shareholder returns. Ping An said it was not an activist investor.
Sky first reported news of the review of its Canadian operations.
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Reporting by Lawrence White, Editing by Sinead Cruise
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