HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA), Europe’s largest bank, is seeking buyers for its Japanese consumer banking unit four years after starting the business, said three people familiar with the matter.
HSBC may sell HSBC Premier, the division that targets wealthy individuals in Japan, the people said on condition of anonymity because the plan isn’t public. The London-based bank has started an auction for the business, and may shut it if offers aren’t attractive enough, two of the people said.
The U.K. lender is scaling back in parts of Asia, including Japan, South Korea and Thailand, as Chief Executive Officer Stuart Gulliver cuts assets to reduce expenses and prepare for tighter capital rules. HSBC said yesterday that it agreed to sell operations in Costa Rica, El Salvador and Honduras to Colombia’s Banco Davivienda SA for $801 million to focus on bigger markets in Latin America.