HSBC has laid off approximately 40 investment bankers in Hong Kong, including four managing directors, as part of a wider cost-cutting initiative under the leadership of chief executive officer Georges Elhedery.

The job cuts, which began on Monday, affected several key divisions including consumer, resources and energy, and mergers and acquisitions, with each department losing around five bankers, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter.

The technology, media and telecommunications division and financial institutions group each saw approximately four staff departures, while the healthcare and Hong Kong coverage teams also experienced redundancies.

Among the senior departures were Luying Gan, head of sustainable debt capital markets for Asia Pacific, Venkat Rao, managing director for debt syndicate and head of local currency and private placements for Asia Pacific, Viet Phan, head of chemicals for Asia Pacific, and Heidi Chan, head of consumer retail for Asia Pacific.

The restructuring comes as HSBC prepares to announce its full-year results on Wednesday, with analysts expecting pre-tax profits of $31.7 billion for 2024, up from $30.3 billion in 2023. The bank is reportedly set to reveal annual cost savings of $1.5 billion in 2024 after one-off costs, according to the Financial Times.

The Hong Kong redundancies follow HSBC's announcement last month that it would wind down its mergers and acquisitions and some equities businesses in Europe and the Americas. The overhaul is part of Elhedery's strategy to boost returns and strengthen the bank's focus on Asia, where it generates the majority of its profit.

As part of the reorganisation, HSBC has combined some of its commercial and investment banking businesses and implemented a new leadership structure. The bank has also announced plans to divide its operations into four business lines: UK, Hong Kong, corporate and institutional banking, and wealth banking.

Barclays analysts estimate that HSBC could cut between 17,000 and 22,000 jobs globally as part of its effort to achieve annual savings of between $2.5 billion and $3.5 billion.

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