As Anglo-Chinese banking giant HSBC is poised to shed thousands of jobs, staff will be anxious to hear about the details – not least at the company’s Swiss business.

Today’s report in the «Financial Times» (behind paywall), which was based on information from unidentified sources, suggested that the Anglo-Chinese giant would cull some 10,000 positions on top of the 4,700 currently being eliminated. The London-based bank didn’t comment the story.

But caretaker CEO Noel Quinn seems eager to get cracking with a plan to reduce the costs. A source said that people at the bank had known for years that they had to do something about operating costs and that the decision had finally been taken to act.

Europe in for Some Tough Cuts?

The European teams may be about to be hit the hardest, the sources told the «Financial Times». While European offices had huge numbers of people under contract, it was Asia that contributed with double-digit growth rates. In that region, the bank generated almost 80 percent of its pretax in the first half.

Where this will leave the 1,000-strong staff at HSBC Private Bank Switzerland is open to speculation. The regional approach of the unit and its moderate return may point toward a reduction of its workforce. In 2018, the bank had a pretax loss of $100 million. It had a pretax profit of $11 million in the first half of 2019.

In August, the Swiss unit agreed to pay 294.4 million euros to settle a tax dispute with Belgium, which will affect the bank’s full-year figures.

Wealth Management Focus

Still, the Swiss business may feel slightly less vulnerable due to its focus on wealth management, because ex-Goldman Sachs executive António Simões aims to actually strengthen that business within HSBC. Sources close to the bank in Switzerland therefore suggested that the Swiss-based staff didn’t worry unduly.

But the wider trend among big banks seems to point towards a slimming of operations in general. Deutsche Bank in August said it would slash 18,000 jobs, and Barclays, Société Générale and Citigroup all have announced major cuts in recent times. Big banks are concerned about the toxic mix of low (or negative) interest rates, challenging market conditions and reluctant investors.

In Switzerland, neither of the two big banks has gone public with major cuts, but the developments at rival global institutes won’t help the job security for their staff.