HSBC offloads part of Swiss banking portfolio

24th Jun 2014 10:37

HSBC's Swiss private banking arm has agreed to sell a portfolio of its assets in the country, as part of the group's strategy to streamline its business in Europe and North America.The group stressed that it remained "fully committed" to Switzerland as a key centre for its Global Private Banking business and a priority market for HSBC as a whole.The private banking portfolio, which had assets under management of $12.5bn at the end of calendar 2013, was sold to LGT Bank, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the LGT Group Foundation, the Prince of Liechtenstein's family office. HSBC said it expected the transaction to complete in the last quarter of 2014, subject to regulatory and other approvals. As part of the bank's stated strategy, it has adopted several filters to determine which businesses fit in its fragmented portfolio by identifying which non-strategic businesses to dispose of.OH