HSBC Investors Tell Bank To Speedup Layoffs By Laying Off Deadweight Members Of The Board

It'd really go a long way towards improving things around here. Just something to think about.

Author:: Bess Levin
Updated:: Jul 2, 2019
Original:: Oct 15, 2015

You know what would really get these layoffs and other cost-cutting initiatives going? Laying off yourselves.

HSBC has promised to shed assets, slash up to 50,000 jobs in the next two years and cut costs to boost returns. But investors are growing impatient as the bank’s share price continues to slide. Some investors believe HSBC needs to cut the size of its board to speed up decision-making and act soon on the bank’s pledge to appoint a new chairman from outside the bank...Four major investors said HSBC should speed up its pace of change by, for example, selling off more assets more quickly, including its business in Mexico, and considering more radical actions to make the bank easier to manage, such as spinning off its U.K. retail business. Hugh Young, a fund manager at Aberdeen Asset Management, which owns 2% of the bank, according to FactSet, said HSBC should shrink its board by not replacing some of its nonexecutive directors whose tenure is approaching 10 years. Mr. Young added that he supports HSBC’s management and thinks it is broadly doing the right things.

Investors Urge HSBC to Speed Up Change [WSJ]

Something in the range of double that...and then some.

Or it could be a mere 10,000. The details are still being hammered out.

Employees across the pond know what we're talking about.

This is not so much a request as a requirement you're unlikely to get around, unless anyone is considering chaining themselves to their desks.

In April 2010, Bank of America said ENOUGH. Enough with this losing of money business. We want to know what it's like to have a quarter in which we actually make a little-- wouldn't that be something? As this was a very lofty goal for the firm, the higher-ups knew they had to get serious-- really focus and hone in an on plan of action. First, they gave their new (money-making) mission a special codename: Project New BAC. Then, 44 executives "fanned out around the company to ask employees low- and high-level for ideas on how BofA [could]...reduce expenses." As we now know, what they came up with re: the reduction of expenses was that 30,000 people should be fired and over the last year, exactly that has happened. And even though a whole bunch of senior people have quit, which has helped the bottom line a bit, it hasn't been enough for meddlesome investors to put a sock in it re: "reining in expenses" and "profit outlook" in general. So, a couple things are going to happen: 1. A whole bunch of well-paid* bankers are going to be escorted out of the building and 2. In order to pick up the slack left, clusters of junior bankers are going to put in a van which will drop them off in whatever division needs them most at the time. The Charlotte, N.C., company is planning about 2,000 staff cuts in its investment banking, commercial banking and non-U.S. wealth-management units, said people familiar with the situation. Those operations were vastly expanded with Bank of America's 2009 purchase of Merrill Lynch & Co. The reductions are significant because of whom they target: the high-earning employees whose efforts helped Merrill Lynch account for the bulk of Bank of America's profit since the financial crisis. The cuts come on top of a plan announced last year that will see Bank of America eliminate 30,000 jobs over three years in its consumer banking divisions...The No. 2 U.S. bank by assets already is facing a wave of high-profile defections in its institutional businesses, such as investment banking, amid Wall Street's annual post-bonus job-hopping season. The upheaval comes as investors are pressuring banks to rein in expenses without giving ground competitively. Despite a 46% rise this year, Bank of America shares have lost a third of their value in the past year, amid questions about the industry's profit outlook. Cutbacks aren't Bank of America's only response to surging costs. The bank is loath to cut too deeply in businesses, such as the fixed-income trading operation, that are showing improvement and highly competitive. One structural shift being planned will pool junior investment-banking employees across different industry sectors so the younger bankers can be routed to whatever area is most in demand at that moment, said people familiar with the situation. Proponents say that move will help younger workers gain more experience, while others say it will detract from the bank's service to clients. BofA To Cut From Elite Ranks [WSJ] *For BofA.

But also, it's looking for a few good investment bankers if you know anyone who's interested, present Deutsche investment bankers excluded.