HSBC Holdings PLC (LSE:HSBA) is reportedly considering merging its commercial and investment banking divisions in a bid to cut costs.
This would see overlapping roles axed, according to Bloomberg, in new chief executive Georges Elhedery’s first major move since taking charge earlier this month.
Some 90,000 people would be employed by the combined unit, in turn creating the bank’s leading source of revenue, worth around US$40 billion (£30.6 billion) annually.
Such a move would also build on a wider cost-cutting effort at the bank recently, which is reportedly set to see middle management jobs cut.
Elhedery’s appointment, following Noel Quinn’s retirement, had coincided with a shake-up in HSBC’s top ranks, which saw global wealth head Nuno Mantos replaced by Barry O’Byrne.
Though the combination of the two units is yet to be confirmed, it would follow Elhedery’s pledge to build on work by Quinn before his departure.
“Our strategy is working, and I’m committed to continuing to build on it,” he had said previously in a memo to staff.