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