HSBC To Cut 2,000 UK Jobs Under Revamp

HSBC, Europe's biggest bank, is set to cut about 2,000 jobs in Britain on Thursday as part of its drive to slash costs and boost profitability in the face of a changing banking landscape, a person familiar with the matter said.

The cuts are part of Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver's global revamp to cut 30,000 jobs by the end of 2013, and to streamline the bank for changes in UK regulation, people familiar with the matter said.

HSBC declined to comment.

Banks across the world are shedding thousands of staff as they try to improve profitability and cope with tougher global regulations. In Britain, banks have been told they must separate their retail banking operations, and also need to shake-up how they sell products under a Retail Distribution Review (RDR).

HSBC employs about 52,000 staff in Britain, so less than 5 percent of its staff will be affected by the changes, which will affect retail banking, head office functions and other areas.

Gulliver wants to cut annual costs by about $3.5 billion and is retreating from countries and areas where the bank lacks scale. The plan also involves improving efficiencies across the bank.

HSBC cut almost 7,000 jobs globally last year, leaving it with about 288,000 employees at the end of December.

It cut jobs in Hong Kong, the United States, Brazil, Canada and Mexico and some head office functions in the first wave of the revamp last year.

Britain is in the second wave of countries affected. It could cut hundreds of staff in India soon, according to local media reports.

(Reuters)