Latest news with #GeorgesElhedery
Business Times
5 days ago
- Business
- Business Times
HSBC disbands team focused on managing geopolitical risks
[LONDON] HSBC Holdings is disbanding a team of staffers that were focused on identifying and managing geopolitical risk even as the possibility of such threats has ratcheted up since US President Donald Trump returned to power. The move will impact fewer than 10 roles across Asia, Europe and other regions, according to people familiar with the matter. Some of those staffers have been given the opportunity to apply for other jobs within the lender, they said, asking not to be identified discussing personnel information. The London-headquartered firm is the world's largest trade bank and an anchor of commerce between the Asia-Pacific region and the rest of the world. As the largest non-US clearer of US dollars, it has become highly sensitive to the political jostling between Washington and Beijing, who have engaged in a tit-for-tat trade war this year prior to a truce that has appeared to stabilise ties for the moment. The firm's geopolitical team was responsible for helping top HSBC managers identify risks in countries the company has a presence in, people familiar with the matter said. Some in the team also advised clients at times, they said. 'We continue to focus on supporting our clients as they navigate a complex and fast-moving international environment,' according to a statement from HSBC. Fast-changing geopolitics have weighed on banks' results in recent months. Investment-banking revenue at the five biggest Wall Street lenders is still almost 40 per cent below the 2021 peak as that uncertainty weighed on merger and IPO volumes. Some rivals have sought to seize on the trend. JPMorgan Chase debuted a Center for Geopolitics in May to offer clients advice on everything from 'the new Middle East chessboard' to 'the endgame in the Russia-Ukraine war,' according to a statement at the time. Goldman Sachs Group and Lazard also offer clients advice on the topic. The HSBC move comes as Wells Fargo suspended travel to China after one of its top trade financing bankers was blocked from leaving the country, the latest case of authorities imposing exit bans on staff of foreign firms. The disbanding of HSBC's team is the latest change under chief executive officer Georges Elhedery, who has been pushing through a sweeping overhaul of Europe's largest lender ever since he took the reins last year in order to curb costs. BLOOMBERG
Reuters
03-07-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Chesnara to buy HSBC Life UK in $355 million deal
LONDON, July 3 (Reuters) - Life and pensions company Chesnara (CSN.L), opens new tab has agreed to buy HSBC's (HSBA.L), opens new tab UK life insurance business for 260 million pounds ($355 million) in cash, Chesnara said on Thursday. The sale of HSBC Life (UK) is the latest by the banking giant as it looks to simplify its business and improve returns under CEO Georges Elhedery. Chesnara said it expected to generate over 800 million pounds in additional lifetime cash flow from HSBC Life (UK), with annual cash generation exceeding 140 million pounds in the first five years. It said the deal would be funded from a combination of existing cash resources, the firm's revolving credit facility and a sale of new shares to existing shareholders. Chesnara said it intended to raise gross proceeds of about 140 million pounds through a rights issue of 79.5 million shares at 176 pence per share, with shareholders getting 10 new ordinary shares for every 19 shares they currently hold. Chesnara shares closed at 293.5 pence on Wednesday and were little changed in early London trading. The acquisition is expected to close in early 2026, subject to regulatory approvals. Chesnara, which was formed in 2004 and has operations in the UK and Europe, reported assets under administration of 14 billion pounds ($18.7 billion) as of December 31, 2024. ($1 = 0.7327 pounds)
Daily Mail
03-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
HSBC sells British life insurance arm as bank's boss ramps up cost-cutting
HSBC has sold its UK life insurance arm, HSBC Life, to insurance firm Chesnara for £260million Policyholders with HSBC Life will be transferred over to Preston-based Chesnara. Chesnara expects the deal to add more than 450,000 new policies and £4million in assets under administration. The banking giant's new boss, Georges Elhedery, is on a mission to simply and streamline the business, offloading any operations which no longer fit its core focus. HSBC is undergoing a radical revamp under Elhedery since he took the helm in September. The bank has cut jobs, combined units and shuttered divisions. HSBC Life is a specialist life protection and investment bond provider, which had eligible own funds of £314million as at 31 December. Chesnara said it expected to generate over £800million in additional lifetime cash flow from HSBC Life, with annual cash generation exceeding £140million in the first five years. The firm said on Thursday it expects eligibility for FTSE 250 inclusion after boosting liquidity. The deal will be funded from a combination of existing cash resources, the firm's revolving credit facility and a sale of new shares to existing shareholders. Chesnara said it intended to raise gross proceeds of around £140million via a rights issue of 79.5million shares at 176p per share, with shareholders getting 10 new ordinary shares for every 19 shares they currently hold. Chesnara shares closed at 293.5p on Wednesday and were little changed in early London trading. The acquisition is expected to close early next year, subject to regulatory approvals. Chesnara, which was formed in 2004 and has operations in the UK and Europe, reported assets under administration of £14billion as of 31 December. Steve Murray, chief executive of Chesnara, said: 'The proposed acquisition of HSBC Life (UK) represents a material step up in scale for Chesnara Group. 'This highly accretive transaction will allow us to build on our strong, 20-year track record of uninterrupted dividend growth.' In recent years, HSBC has sought to simplify its structure and concentrate on core banking activities, notably in Asia, where it continues to deploy significant capital. In December, Canada Life announced it was transferring its bond business to Chesnara. Chesnara shares were up 0.21 per cent or 0.62p to 294.12p on Thursday, having risen 18 per cent in the last year. HSBC shares fell 0.3 per cent or 2.7p to 882.60p, having risen over 28 per cent in the last year.
Business Times
03-07-2025
- Business
- Business Times
From banks to tech: Microsoft latest to announce job cuts, layoffs for 2025
[SINGAPORE] In 2025, a growing number of corporations globally have announced job cuts, as macroeconomic pressures, restructuring efforts, and shifting strategies force companies to trim their workforces. The latest development took place on Wednesday (Jul 2), when Microsoft announced it is carrying out a round of layoffs globally. Here are some of the job cuts in 2025 so far, including those in Singapore: Technology Microsoft The tech giant will lay off nearly 4 per cent of its workforce, or about 9,000 people. This is the second time this year it is cutting headcount – the first was in May, which affected about 6,000 employees. The company had about 228,000 employees worldwide as at June 2024. It said it was looking to reduce costs amid huge investments in artificial intelligence infrastructure. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up It plans to reduce layers with fewer managers and streamline its products, procedures and roles. Intel As part of a move to streamline management and rebuild an engineering-driven culture, Intel announced plans to cut more than 20 per cent of its staff on Apr 23. In a similar cutback in 2024, Intel slashed 15,000 jobs. Microsoft Microsoft announced its first round of 2025 layoffs in May, which affected 6,000 people largely in product and engineering positions. Meta Meta Platforms was said to be laying off more than 100 people across its Reality Labs division focused on creating virtual reality (VR) and wearable devices on Apr 25, Bloomberg reported, citing sources. The latest round of job cuts impacted Reality Labs staff focused on creating VR experiences for Meta's Quest headsets, as well as operations-focused employees working on hardware, as Meta leadership sought to streamline similar work being done across two different teams within Reality Labs. Earlier this year, Meta cut roughly 5 per cent of staff – about 3,600 people – in what was described as performance-based terminations. Finance and banking Standard Chartered The move to offshore jobs to India has affected about 80 Singapore-based employees whose roles are from the bank's technology and operations teams according to a report in The Straits Times on Thursday (Jun 19). HSBC Some of its investment bankers were placed on short-term retention agreements in March as it wound down various businesses in a broad overhaul led by new chief executive officer Georges Elhedery. In some cases, the bankers were on three- to six-month work arrangements to finish client mandates across Europe, Asia and the Americas, after the lender said it would shutter selective investment-banking units. The plan also included cutting many vice-chair roles in various markets, though it is not clear how many bankers were affected. Barclays Its investment bank division announced on Jun 9 that it was preparing to cut more than 200 jobs as part of chief executive officer CS Venkatakrishnan's plan to boost its profitability. Staffers in investment banking, global markets and research will likely be affected and managing directors will be the most senior roles affected. The reduction represents about 3 per cent of the investment bank's headcount. Venkatakrishnan set out a new strategy last year that anticipated about £2 billion (S$3.5 billion) of efficiency savings across the bank by 2026, helping to boost earnings and return £10 billion to investors. Citi Citigroup announced on May 16 that it was cutting up to 200 information technology (IT) contractor roles in China, as the bank looks to hire its own staff globally for such operations to improve risk management and data governance. On Jun 5, Citigroup also said it will reduce the number of employees at two of its technology centres in China by about 3,500 as it pushes to simplify and shrink global tech operations to improve risk and data management. The reduction of staff at the China Citi Solution Centres in Shanghai and Dalian is expected to be completed by the start of the fourth quarter this year, it said. Electronics Siemens The industrial giant announced on Mar 18 that it planned to cut over 6,000 jobs worldwide due to weak demand and increasing competition in China and in its home market. About 5,600 of the job cuts will be made by 2027 in the automation business, which supplies robotics, other machinery and industrial software to factories, with about half the roles lost in Germany. In its vehicle charging business, the group plans to cut 450 positions from a total of 1,300 employed in the operation worldwide by the end of the current financial year. The company was unable to confirm whether, or how, the workers in its Singapore office will be affected, a spokesperson for Siemens Singapore told The Business Times on Mar 19. But a new Tuas factory, scheduled to begin operations in 2025 or 2026, will not be affected. The facility will allow Siemens to 'even better serve the growing South-east Asian markets', the spokesperson said. Panasonic On May 9, Japanese electronics giant Panasonic said it was targeting 10,000 job cuts worldwide as part of efforts to boost productivity among its workforce. 'This measure targets 10,000 employees (5,000 in Japan and 5,000 overseas) at consolidated companies,' it said. The figure represents around four per cent of the firm's total workforce of nearly 230,000. The cuts will be implemented mainly in the financial year ending in March, it said. STMicro Microelectronics expects 5,000 staff to leave the company in the next three years, including 2,800 job cuts announced earlier this year, its chief executive Jean-Marc Chery said on Jun 4. Transport Jetstar Asia Australian flag carrier Qantas will wind down the operations of its Singapore-based unit Jetstar Asia and shut it down on Jul 31, as rising costs threaten the sustainability of its business, said Jetstar Asia in a Jun 11 statement. The move sees more than 500 employees retrenched. Nissan The Japanese automaker said on May 12 that it was looking to slash more than 10,000 jobs globally, bringing the total cuts including previously announced layoffs to about 20,000 or 15 per cent of its workforce. Volvo Volvo Cars said on May 7 that it would make production changes and cut five per cent of the workforce at its Charleston plant in the United States due to changing market conditions and evolving trade policies, including tariffs. A spokesperson said the changes would affect about 125 of the 2,500 employees at its factory in South Carolina. Volkswagen The German automaker said on Jun 3 that about 20,000 employees will voluntarily leave the company by the end of the decade. This comes as the carmaker restructures its German operations to cope with uneven demand for its vehicles. Retail And Consumer Goods Nike The world's largest sportswear retailer, Nike, is downsizing its technology division as management resets priorities, with plans to shift some of the work to third-party vendors as announced on May 20. This aligns with Nike chief executive officer Elliott Hill's goals of sparking a rebound at Nike after leaning too heavily on lifestyle products and alienating retail partners. However, Nike is still facing headwinds from US President Donald Trump's trade war combined with uneven spending by US consumers despite its new focus on sports and wholesale channels. Adidas German sportswear giant Adidas announced up to 500 job cuts on Mar 5, primarily affecting staff at Adidas' headquarters in Herzogenaurach according to chief executive officer Bjorn Gulden. Procter & Gamble The consumer goods giant said on Jun 5 that it would cut 7,000 jobs, or about 6 per cent of its total workforce over the next two years, as it navigates uneven demand due to tariff uncertainty. The company had about 108,000 employees as of June last year and said the job cuts would account for roughly 15 per cent of its non-manufacturing workforce. P&G has so far stayed silent about how its planned job cuts will affect its operations in Singapore. The company employs some 2,300 people in Singapore, which is home to its Asia-Pacific headquarters and a major research-and-development facility. Burberry Burberry Group announced plans on May 14 to cut almost a fifth of its workforce as its new chief executive officer Joshua Schulman tries to turn around the British trench-coat maker, after its push into high fashion flopped amid slumping global demand for luxury goods. Most job cuts will be office roles in the UK, Schulman said, though global retail positions will be affected. Hasbro In light of higher tariffs on toys from China from US President Donald Trump, Hasbro has cut 3 per cent of its global workforce, amounting to about 150 employees on Jun 18. As Hasbro sources about half of its toys and games sold in the US from China, they have been speeding up efforts to diversify sourcing to reduce exposure to China. Amazon Amazon on May 14 cut about 100 jobs in its devices and services unit, which oversees the development of products such as the Kindle, Echo speakers, Alexa voice assistant and Zoox self-driving cars. The company said the jobs represented a small number of the total for the unit and were part of its regular business review. Disney Walt Disney is laying off several hundred employees across its film and TV businesses. The staff reductions began on Jun 2 and affect employees in marketing, publicity, casting and development, along with corporate financial operations, according to the company. The latest reductions follow roughly 200 job cuts across Disney's ABC and entertainment TV networks in March. In all, the company has eliminated more than 8,000 positions in recent years as it seeks to improve profitability. Logistics DHL German logistics giant DHL unveiled plans on Mar 6 to lay off about 8,000 jobs this year as part of a strategy to save more than 1 billion euros (S$1.43 billion) by 2027. The job cuts, representing more than 1 per cent of the total workforce, will occur in the Post & Parcel Germany division. DHL Group employs approximately 602,000 people in more than 220 countries and territories worldwide. It employs 190,000 people in the Post & Parcel Germany unit. UPS United Parcel Service's first-quarter profit beat market estimates and the parcel delivery giant said on Apr 29 that it will cut 20,000 jobs to lower costs in an uncertain economy and in anticipation of weak volumes from its largest customer, Amazo Others Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University said on Mar 14 that it will slash over 2,000 jobs in the US and abroad, following the termination of US$800 million in grants to the institution by the Trump administration. This marked the biggest layoff in the university's history, involving 247 domestic US workers for the academic institution and another 1,975 positions outside the US in 44 countries.
Business Times
01-07-2025
- Business
- Business Times
From banks to tech: Job cuts and layoffs for 2025
[SINGAPORE] In 2025, a growing number of corporations globally have announced job cuts, as macroeconomic pressures, restructuring efforts, and shifting strategies force companies to trim their workforces. Here are some of the job cuts announced so far, including those in Singapore: Finance and banking Standard Chartered The move to offshore jobs to India has affected about 80 Singapore-based employees whose roles are from the bank's technology and operations teams according to a report in The Straits Times on Thursday (Jun 19). HSBC Some of its investment bankers were placed on short-term retention agreements in March as it wound down various businesses in a broad overhaul led by new chief executive officer Georges Elhedery. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up In some cases, the bankers were on three- to six-month work arrangements to finish client mandates across Europe, Asia and the Americas, after the lender said it would shutter selective investment-banking units. The plan also included cutting many vice-chair roles in various markets, though it is not clear how many bankers were affected. Barclays Its investment bank division announced on Jun 9 that it was preparing to cut more than 200 jobs as part of chief executive officer CS Venkatakrishnan's plan to boost its profitability. Staffers in investment banking, global markets and research will likely be affected and managing directors will be the most senior roles affected. The reduction represents about 3 per cent of the investment bank's headcount. Venkatakrishnan set out a new strategy last year that anticipated about £2 billion (S$3.5 billion) of efficiency savings across the bank by 2026, helping to boost earnings and return £10 billion to investors. Citi Citigroup announced on May 16 that it was cutting up to 200 information technology (IT) contractor roles in China, as the bank looks to hire its own staff globally for such operations to improve risk management and data governance. On Jun 5, Citigroup also said it will reduce the number of employees at two of its technology centres in China by about 3,500 as it pushes to simplify and shrink global tech operations to improve risk and data management. The reduction of staff at the China Citi Solution Centres in Shanghai and Dalian is expected to be completed by the start of the fourth quarter this year, it said. Technology Intel As part of a move to streamline management and rebuild an engineering-driven culture, Intel announced plans to cut more than 20 per cent of its staff on Apr 23. In a similar cutback in 2024, Intel slashed 15,000 jobs. Microsoft Microsoft announced a first round of layoffs in May which affected 6,000 people largely in product and engineering positions. The second round of cuts is expected to be announced early in July, targeting thousands of jobs in sales, Bloomberg reported, citing sources. Meta Meta Platforms was said to be laying off more than 100 people across its Reality Labs division focused on creating virtual reality (VR) and wearable devices on Apr 25, Bloomberg reported, citing sources. The latest round of job cuts impacted Reality Labs staff focused on creating VR experiences for Meta's Quest headsets, as well as operations-focused employees working on hardware, as Meta leadership sought to streamline similar work being done across two different teams within Reality Labs. Earlier this year, Meta cut roughly 5 per cent of staff – about 3,600 people – in what was described as performance-based terminations. Electronics Siemens The industrial giant announced on Mar 18 that it planned to cut over 6,000 jobs worldwide due to weak demand and increasing competition in China and in its home market. About 5,600 of the job cuts will be made by 2027 in the automation business, which supplies robotics, other machinery and industrial software to factories, with about half the roles lost in Germany. In its vehicle charging business, the group plans to cut 450 positions from a total of 1,300 employed in the operation worldwide by the end of the current financial year. The company was unable to confirm whether, or how, the workers in its Singapore office will be affected, a spokesperson for Siemens Singapore told The Business Times on Mar 19. But a new Tuas factory, scheduled to begin operations in 2025 or 2026, will not be affected. The facility will allow Siemens to 'even better serve the growing South-east Asian markets', the spokesperson said. Panasonic On May 9, Japanese electronics giant Panasonic said it was targeting 10,000 job cuts worldwide as part of efforts to boost productivity among its workforce. 'This measure targets 10,000 employees (5,000 in Japan and 5,000 overseas) at consolidated companies,' it said. The figure represents around four per cent of the firm's total workforce of nearly 230,000. The cuts will be implemented mainly in the financial year ending in March, it said. STMicro Microelectronics expects 5,000 staff to leave the company in the next three years, including 2,800 job cuts announced earlier this year, its chief executive Jean-Marc Chery said on Jun 4. Transport Jetstar Asia Australian flag carrier Qantas will wind down the operations of its Singapore-based unit Jetstar Asia and shut it down on Jul 31, as rising costs threaten the sustainability of its business, said Jetstar Asia in a Jun 11 statement. The move sees more than 500 employees retrenched. Nissan The Japanese automaker said on May 12 that it was looking to slash more than 10,000 jobs globally, bringing the total cuts including previously announced layoffs to about 20,000 or 15 per cent of its workforce. Volvo Volvo Cars said on May 7 that it would make production changes and cut five per cent of the workforce at its Charleston plant in the United States due to changing market conditions and evolving trade policies, including tariffs. A spokesperson said the changes would affect about 125 of the 2,500 employees at its factory in South Carolina. Volkswagen The German automaker said on Jun 3 that about 20,000 employees will voluntarily leave the company by the end of the decade. This comes as the carmaker restructures its German operations to cope with uneven demand for its vehicles. Retail And Consumer Goods Nike The world's largest sportswear retailer, Nike, is downsizing its technology division as management resets priorities, with plans to shift some of the work to third-party vendors as announced on May 20. This aligns with Nike chief executive officer Elliott Hill's goals of sparking a rebound at Nike after leaning too heavily on lifestyle products and alienating retail partners. However, Nike is still facing headwinds from US President Donald Trump's trade war combined with uneven spending by US consumers despite its new focus on sports and wholesale channels. Adidas German sportswear giant Adidas announced up to 500 job cuts on Mar 5, primarily affecting staff at Adidas' headquarters in Herzogenaurach according to chief executive officer Bjorn Gulden. Procter & Gamble The consumer goods giant said on Jun 5 that it would cut 7,000 jobs, or about 6 per cent of its total workforce over the next two years, as it navigates uneven demand due to tariff uncertainty. The company had about 108,000 employees as of June last year and said the job cuts would account for roughly 15 per cent of its non-manufacturing workforce. P&G has so far stayed silent about how its planned job cuts will affect its operations in Singapore. The company employs some 2,300 people in Singapore, which is home to its Asia-Pacific headquarters and a major research-and-development facility. Burberry Burberry Group announced plans on May 14 to cut almost a fifth of its workforce as its new chief executive officer Joshua Schulman tries to turn around the British trench-coat maker, after its push into high fashion flopped amid slumping global demand for luxury goods. Most job cuts will be office roles in the UK, Schulman said, though global retail positions will be affected. Hasbro In light of higher tariffs on toys from China from US President Donald Trump, Hasbro has cut 3 per cent of its global workforce, amounting to about 150 employees on Jun 18. As Hasbro sources about half of its toys and games sold in the US from China, they have been speeding up efforts to diversify sourcing to reduce exposure to China. Amazon Amazon on May 14 cut about 100 jobs in its devices and services unit, which oversees the development of products such as the Kindle, Echo speakers, Alexa voice assistant and Zoox self-driving cars. The company said the jobs represented a small number of the total for the unit and were part of its regular business review. Disney Walt Disney is laying off several hundred employees across its film and TV businesses. The staff reductions began on Jun 2 and affect employees in marketing, publicity, casting and development, along with corporate financial operations, according to the company. The latest reductions follow roughly 200 job cuts across Disney's ABC and entertainment TV networks in March. In all, the company has eliminated more than 8,000 positions in recent years as it seeks to improve profitability. Logistics DHL German logistics giant DHL unveiled plans on Mar 6 to lay off about 8,000 jobs this year as part of a strategy to save more than 1 billion euros (S$1.43 billion) by 2027. The job cuts, representing more than 1 per cent of the total workforce, will occur in the Post & Parcel Germany division. DHL Group employs approximately 602,000 people in more than 220 countries and territories worldwide. It employs 190,000 people in the Post & Parcel Germany unit. UPS United Parcel Service's first-quarter profit beat market estimates and the parcel delivery giant said on Apr 29 that it will cut 20,000 jobs to lower costs in an uncertain economy and in anticipation of weak volumes from its largest customer, Amazo Others Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University said on Mar 14 that it will slash over 2,000 jobs in the US and abroad, following the termination of US$800 million in grants to the institution by the Trump administration. This marked the biggest layoff in the university's history, involving 247 domestic US workers for the academic institution and another 1,975 positions outside the US in 44 countries.
