HSBC has reportedly kicked off the process to prepare a rebuttal against the call from Ping An – its largest shareholder – to break up the bank.
HSBC has begun an internal review to examine the case for a break-up, according to a «Bloomberg» report citing unnamed sources, with the hopes of maintaining the bank’s global reach.
Bankers from Goldman Sachs – one of HSBC’s retained corporate advisors – have been called to help with the review and prepare a rebuttal to defend against a break-up.
There are plans to complete the report in the coming weeks before presenting it to HSBC’s directors, the report added.
Potential Cost
Thus far, analysts have expressed limited optimism about the potential upside of a break-up and separation of the Asia business, with reduced global connectivity cited as the top concern for the bank’s market value.
In addition, there are also large restructuring costs associated and the report added that any «in-depth work» to break up HSBC would take more than a year to complete.
