HSBC Can Feast on Deutsche Bank’s Pain
Easy pickings in the market for talent will help the U.K. lender build a stronger equities franchise.
Recent hires are low-hanging fruit for HSBC, and there may be more to come.
Photographer: RuudMorijn/iStockphoto/Getty Images
Say “equities trading,” and HSBC Holdings Plc won’t be the first bank to come to mind. Or the second or third. It doesn’t even reach the top 10. Yet its recent efforts to bulk up in this area make a lot of sense. Never mind that investment banks globally are struggling in equities as automation and regulation eat into wafer-thin margins.
The London-based institution is on a hiring spree for the business in Asia-Pacific, recruiting executives from rivals including Deutsche Bank AG. Germany’s largest lender said this week it’s planning to cut at least 7,000 positions worldwide, with equities bearing the brunt. HSBC hired Deutsche’s Isabella Kwok as a managing director for Asian stock sales with a China focus, as well as Edman Wong from Citigroup Inc. and CLSA Ltd.’s Vivek Gandhi, Bloomberg’s Cathy Chan reported Friday.