HSBC bankers instructed to reapply for jobs with a whole lot dealing with the axe in main overhaul

HSBC is preparing to axe hundreds of senior bankers over the coming weeks as part of a sweeping overhaul by boss Georges Elhedery.

The cost-cutting move – in the run-up to Christmas – will see managers asked to reapply for roles in the bank’s newly formed corporate and institutional banking unit.

It will reportedly mean employees from HSBC’s commercial banking division competing for the positions against those from the global banking and markets unit.

Shake-up: Boss Georges Elhedery (pictured) is splitting HSBC into four divisions: Hong Kong; UK; corporate and institutional banking; and international wealth and premier banking

The interviews for the roles are already underway, Bloomberg News reported. HSBC declined to comment.

The bank employs more than 30,000 staff in the UK and over 200,000 worldwide.

Elhedery’s predecessor Noel Quinn had already axed tens of thousands of jobs across the group during five years in charge. 

His Lebanese-born successor took over in September, and last month he announced plans to ‘simplify’ the sprawling bank.

Under Elhedery’s restructuring plan, HSBC will be organised into four divisions: Hong Kong; UK; corporate and institutional banking; and international wealth and premier banking.

Businesses within the latter two divisions will fall between eastern markets, including Asia and the Middle East, and western markets, including the UK, Europe and the Americas.

Elhedery, 50, warned staff there would ‘inevitably be a reduction in duplicated roles, particularly at senior levels’. Reports have suggested the cuts could save more than £200million.

Elhedery has said his shake-up would result in a ‘simpler, more dynamic and agile organisation’. 

The bank said it would ‘reduce the duplication of processes and decision making’ that are built into the current structure.

Some investors want the restructuring to go further, severing the bank’s operations in Asia entirely from its business in the UK and the rest of the world.

A number of top level HSBC executives are already departing, including Nuno Matos, head of wealth and personal banking, who missed out on the top job.

HSBC was founded in Hong Kong and still makes most of its profits in Asia but increasingly strained relations between the West and China’s repressive Communist regime have created challenges for the bank.