--- title: "HSBC clears out senior bankers in biggest cull since 2010" type: "News" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/296641914.md" description: "HSBC has cut 134 senior bankers, representing roughly 10% of its Material Risk Takers, marking the largest cull since 2010. The bank spent nearly $70m in severance payments as CEO Georges Elhedery pushes a radical restructuring to create a leaner organization focused on Asia. This follows previous job cuts and aligns with industry trends, including potential AI-driven reductions." datetime: "2026-08-21T17:34:04.000Z" locales: - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/296641914.md) - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/296641914.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/296641914.md) generator: "portal-rs" --- # HSBC clears out senior bankers in biggest cull since 2010 HSBC has cut one in 10 of its most senior bankers in the largest round of redundancies since 2010. The banking giant, which straddles Britain and Hong Kong, saw 134 of its best-paid employees leave last year, roughly 10pc of the total. It spent almost $70m (£51.3m) in severance payments as part of the layoffs, with one senior HSBC employee receiving a $1.8m payout. The layoffs mark the largest cull of HSBC’s senior ranks since records began in 2010, when banks were forced to publish more details about their top staff in the wake of the financial crisis. HSBC defines top bankers as Material Risk Takers (MRTs), a regulatory term describing employees who can make or break the bank’s fortunes through their dealmaking or trading. The shake-up comes as Georges Elhedery, HSBC’s chief executive, pushes forward with a radical restructuring after taking charge in September 2024. The bank has spoken about plans to become a simpler, leaner organisation, and, under Mr Elhedery’s tenure, has already cut thousands of jobs. These have mostly come in HSBC’s banking divisions. Last year, Mr Elhedery shut down the bank’s mergers and acquisitions and stock market teams across the UK, US and Europe, which would have housed many of the MRTs. It leaves HSBC’s corporate banking functions focused solely on Asia, where it has a sizeable role in Hong Kong and Singapore. Even deeper cuts could emerge in the next few years, after reports suggested HSBC had earmarked around 20,000 roles, or roughly 10pc of its total workforce, at risk of elimination by AI. HSBC has shifted further to Asia in the last two years, scaling back its worldwide footprint and exiting a number of its lower-returning businesses. Recently, Mr Elhedery suggested that the most difficult decisions to simplify the business and cut roles had already been taken. While HSBC has only reportedly considered replacing staff with AI, one of its largest rivals in Asia, Standard Chartered, has also spoken openly about cutting staff. Earlier this year, the bank said it expected to cut back-office roles by about 15pc during the next four years, equivalent to around 7,800 roles. However, Bill Winters, the chief executive of the bank, was forced to apologise after describing employees whose jobs are vulnerable to being replaced by AI as “lower-value human capital”. HSBC declined to comment. ### Related Stocks - [HSBC.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/HSBC.US.md) - [HSBH.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/HSBH.US.md) - [00005.HK](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/00005.HK.md) - [HSBA.UK](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/HSBA.UK.md) - [02888.HK](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/02888.HK.md) - [DTIW.SG](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/DTIW.SG.md) - [STAN.UK](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/STAN.UK.md) ## Related News & Research - [Reports Say HSBC HOLDINGS Conducted Largest Senior Executive Layoffs Since Financial Crisis Last Year, With Severance Costs Near USD68 million](https://longbridge.com/en/news/296579419.md) - [HSBC Advances Multi-Venue Share Buy-Back With US$263 Million Repurchases](https://longbridge.com/en/news/296279388.md) - [Frist Cressey Ventures leads Chamber’s USD 60 million Series A round](https://longbridge.com/en/news/296246813.md) - [HSBC Raises US$6.75bn in Senior Unsecured Notes for Long-Term Funding](https://longbridge.com/en/news/296035423.md) - [HSBC seeks NYSE listing for USD 6.75 billion senior unsecured notes issuance](https://longbridge.com/en/news/296034370.md) --- > **Disclaimer: This article is for reference only and does not constitute any investment advice.**