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London - HSBC Holdings is eliminating 2 000 jobs in its commercial bank as part of a plan to cut costs, according to a person briefed on the matter.
The reductions began last week and are expected to take two years, the person said, asking not to be identified discussing personnel matters.
The cuts are part of a three-year program unveiled by Europe’s largest bank in June to shrink its workforce by some 50 000 and lower annual costs by as much as $5bn. Sky News reported the commercial bank’s cuts earlier on Monday.
Chief executive officer Stuart Gulliver, 56, is seeking to pare back a sprawling global network by shutting money-losing businesses and eliminating jobs as he pushes to improve earnings amid surging compliance costs.
Other major European lenders from Credit Suisse Group AG to Deutsche Bank AG are cutting thousands of jobs as they battle to adapt to tougher regulatory demands on capital.
"As flagged in our investor update, we have targeted significant cost reductions by the end of 2017, and we continually review and manage our overall headcount requirements," said Heidi Ashley, a company spokeswoman.
The stock fell 1% to 529.8 pence at 10:48 on Tuesday. HSBC has slumped 13% this year, compared with a 40% decline at Standard Chartered.
