Tokyo Electric Power Attracts Major Investors Amid Billion-Dollar Restructuring Push 
China's Factory-Gate Prices Rise for First Time in Over Three Years Amid Global Cost Pressures 
Abbott Laboratories Ordered to Pay $53 Million in Premature Infant Formula Lawsuit 
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Posts Strong Q3 Earnings, Announces AI-Driven Job Cuts 
BHP's Incoming CEO Visits China Amid Pricing Dispute with CMRG 
Lumentum Holdings Rides AI Wave With Order Book Filled Through 2028 
Bill Ackman Eyes New Fund to Bet Against Market Complacency 
Colombia and Ecuador Trade War Escalates With Retaliatory Tariffs 
Bank of America Identifies Top Asia-Pacific Semiconductor Stocks Poised for AI-Driven Growth 
OpenAI Addresses Security Vulnerability in macOS App Certification Process 
San Francisco Suspect Arrested After Molotov Cocktail Attack on OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's Home 
Alibaba Shares Slide as Jefferies Slashes Price Target Over AI Spending and Business Losses 
SanDisk Joins Nasdaq-100, Replacing Atlassian on April 20 
Oil Prices Rise Amid Strait of Hormuz Tensions and U.S.-Iran Talks 
China Set to Exit Deflation Cycle in Early 2026, ANZ Analysts Say 
Disney Plans to Cut 1,000 Jobs Amid Ongoing Restructuring Efforts 
Gulf Ceasefire Cracks Rattle Asian Markets and Push Oil Prices Higher 
HSBC, one of the largest banking and financial services institutions in the world, is withdrawing most of its retail banking business in the U.S. The bank announced its decision on Wednesday, May 26.
HSBC stated that it will now close a number of its retail banking outlets in the region, and with this move, only 25 locations will remain out of its total of 148 branches. CNN Business reported that the ones that will stay would be transformed into international wealth management centers.
HSBC’s plan after closing over a hundred bank branches
The bank will not totally pull out in the American market as select locations will remain open. However, these will not be the same establishment that will offer the usual retail banking services.
Rather, HSBC will be focusing on banking and wealth management to cater to the needs of customers on a global level. To be more specific, the bank explained it will provide services according to the “needs of globally connected affluent and high net worth clients."
It was reported that the bank’s decision to exit its US bank retail business was actually anticipated. This is because HSBC already warned in the past that the company must cut costs, especially in the U.S., where it has been struggling to gain a strong foothold.
Bank location sell-offs
HSBC will now sell big chunks of its U.S. business, and as of Wednesday, there are some buyers already. It was mentioned that Citizens Bank in Rhode Island agreed to acquire its East Coast retail unit that has 80 branches with over 800,000 customers.
"We are pleased to announce the sale of the domestic mass market of our US retail banking business,” HSBC CEO Noel Quinn said in a statement. “They are good businesses, but we lacked the scale to compete. This next chapter of HSBC's presence in the US will see the team focus on our competitive strengths, connecting our global wholesale and wealth management clients to other markets around the world."
Fox Business added that on the West Coast, 10 HSBC bank branches will be sold to Cathay Bank. These hold around 50,000 customers. Then again, it was said that the deals are still subject to regulatory approval and expected to complete within the first quarter of 2022.
