HSBC Singapore chief executive Alex Hungate in an interview to Business Times said that the bank’s current 3,500 headcount is already 6% more than last year, and the bank’s targets are predicated on Singapore’s growth as an international hub for trade, wealth and financial services.
The hiring plan comes after the bank’s recent announcement that it will cut back in retail banking and may sell its US credit card arm in a bid to cut $3.5bn in costs and revive flagging profits.
HSBC has targeted India, Singapore and Malaysia/ Indonesia to each deliver over $1bn in profit before tax in the medium term.
HSBC is not the only bank to step up its focus on Asia and Singapore recently. Standard Chartered Singapore posted flat $718m earnings last year and added 20% more people to push headcount to 7,100.
