The sale comes after HSBC, which is heavily focused on Asia but listed on the London stock exchange, faced calls from its biggest shareholder, China’s Ping An Insurance group, to cut costs and put more resources into Asia.

HSBC will use the funds to invest in its core business and return cash to investors, the entity’s statement said. Its divestment in Canada must be completed by the end of 2023.

For RBC, “HSBC Canada offers the opportunity to add complementary business and customer base in the markets we are most familiar with and where we can deliver strong profitability and customer value,” said RBC Chairman and CEO Dave McKay, in a separate statement.

branch closure

Yesterday, it announced the closure of 114 branches as of April 2023, as the number of clients has decreased sharply since the pandemic. The lender says the number of people visiting branches has fallen by 65% ​​over five years.

“The decline in branch usage has been very fast since the pandemic so that several branches that have closed are now serving less than 250 customers per week.“, the entity said in a statement.

In contrast, more than nine out of 10 transactions are now carried out digitally. The bank said it would try to relocate affected staff, but about 100 workers would be out of work.

Banks have closed hundreds of branches in recent years as more people online banks and lenders cut costs.

HSBC also reported it would spend tens of millions to “update and upgrade” its remaining 327 UK branches.

“People are changing the way they do their banking and traffic at many branches is very low with no sign of a comeback,” said Jackie Uhi, managing director of UK distribution.

He stated that remote banking was becoming the norm for most and the decision to close the branch “it’s never easy or taken lightly”, especially if it is the last branch in an area. The trend has accelerated since the pandemic, with some HSBC branches serving fewer than 250 people per week, he added.