The Financial Services Authority’s new law will ban commission paid on sales of financial products from the end of next year and will instead require advisers to charge the customer.

HSBC said it was making the cuts because there would be a big drop in mid-market demand for advice. It will now offer free, very basic advice for the mass market and a paid-for service for well-off customers.

However, the London-listed bank said that it will still have 1,500 advisers across the UK.

A spokesperson for HSBC said "We are currently speaking to all those individuals who will be affected. We are in a three-month process but we are hoping that some will be able to get other roles within the group as we have lots of highly qualified and experienced people."

Barclays announced in January it was scrapping advice in its branches completely, putting 1,000 jobs at risk.

The lender added that it will also axe around 140 jobs in its service delivery area and around 100 in its IT operations and head office functions such as HR, finance and compliance.

This week, domestic rival Lloyds Banking Group also said that it will make about 15,000 job cuts, including back office jobs, as part of an overhaul of its business following a major review.