Welcome to the world of hipsters as HSBC is looking for office space in trendy tech-focused London neighbourhoods.
According to news agency «Bloomberg», British lender HSBC is seeking to «bolster its fintech capabilities» and has hired real estate broker CBRE Group to find 50,000 square feet (4,600 square metres) of space in areas including Old Street and Shoreditch. Both home to hipsters, and more importantly, start-ups.
If the deal goes ahead, the bank will join Barclays fintech accelerator in Whitechapel (East London), reports the news website «Banking Technology».
Further Plans
Back in February, HSBC decided to keep its headquarters in London rather than move to Hong Kong, as finews.asia also reported. It is «expanding out of its 45-floor skyscraper in Canary Wharf»; and plans to move 1,000 retail bank workers to Birmingham, Britain’s second-biggest city, to «cut costs and separate its U.K. consumer operations from the investment bank».
An HSBC spokeswoman declined to comment on its expansion plans.
Blockchain Prototype
Elsewhere, HSBC has been busy: Bank of America Merrill Lynch, HSBC and the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) teamed up to develop a blockchain prototype for trade finance innovation.
