[1/2]In this illustration from March 12, 2023, the HSBC Bank logo and declining stock graph can be seen. Portal/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Acquire License Rights
HONG KONG, Sept 28 (Portal) – HSBC (HSBA.L) is poised to acquire Citigroup’s (CN) Chinese consumer wealth management business, which manages more than $3 billion in assets, two people familiar with it said Matter familiar sources in a major case to boost the London-based bank’s business in this country.
The deal, whose financial details were not immediately known, will also see Asia-focused HSBC take on “several hundred” of Citi’s China-based employees, one of the sources said.
The deal could be announced as early as next month, said the two sources, who could not be named because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
HSBC and Citi declined to comment.
The acquisition adds to HSBC’s list of moves to expand in China, one of its key markets, as Europe’s largest lender vows to exit less profitable regions to focus on its key revenue generator Asia.
Citi’s wealth management operations in China, part of the retail banking business that the company plans to exit in 2021, primarily serve mass affluent clients in the world’s second-largest economy.
Its private banking services, which serve wealthy Chinese clients from the bank’s locations outside China, remain intact, the first source said. Citi is also in the process of applying to set up a securities brokerage unit in China.
Citi said in December that it planned to sell some of its portfolios as it closed its retail banking business in China. This is part of a strategy to exit the consumer business in 14 markets in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Mexico.
In Asia, Citi is in the process of closing its office in South Korea and plans to complete the transfer of its Indonesian business to UOB Group. In August, the company completed the sale and migration of its Taiwan consumer businesses.
Reporting by Selena Li; Editing by Sumeet Chatterjee, Tom Hogue and Sonali Paul
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