HSBC to announce job cuts on Monday

Global banking giant HSBC will announce next week plans to axe between 10,000 and 15,000 jobs in the coming year as part of a drastic cost-cutting drive, a report said Saturday. The bank, headquartered in London but with a major focus on Asia, will unveil the job cuts today as it posts its half-year results, Britain's Sky News television reported, without citing its sources. An HSBC spokesman declined to comment on the report. Disappointing results Article continues below The bank's results are expected to be disappointing, and rivals Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland are also likely to reveal a drop in their profits next week. In May, HSBC said it would slash costs by up to $3.5 billion (Dh12 billion) by 2013, with its new chief executive Stuart Gulliver saying the savings would be ploughed back into fast-growing markets around the world, especially in Asia. The lender has already said it would be hiring at least 2,000 extra people in mainland China and Singapore over the next five years, as it seeks to tap the fast-growing Asia Pacific market. HSBC was founded in Hong Kong and Shanghai in 1865 and the bank regards Asia as its most important region. It is listed on the London and Hong Kong exchanges.