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(Adds response to debt protests)
By Lawrence White
LONDON, May 28 (Reuters) - HSBC said on Friday the
United States remains key to its growth plans, a day after
announcing the sale of its mass market retail U.S. banking
business in a country where it has long struggled to make a
strong profit.
HSBC's business in the United States will focus on
internationally-oriented corporate customers, chief executive
Noel Quinn told the lender's annual shareholder meeting in
London.
"The U.S. is key to our international network and an
important contributor to our growth plans," Quinn said.
HSBC announced on Thursday its long-awaited U.S. retail exit
as it shifts its business more towards Asia, where it has had
greater success making money.
The lender is also seeking to sell its French retail banking
operations as part of the same strategy, and has entered final
negotiations to sell that business to private equity firm
Cerberus, Reuters reported in March.
A small group of protesters outside the meeting criticised
HSBC for not forgiving poor countries' debt to allow them to
better cope with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, something
charities have called on the private sector to do.
G20 governments have frozen many low-income countries' loan
repayments under the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI)
during the pandemic.
Nearly 550 private sector bonds issued by 62 low- and
middle-income countries total some $691 billion in principal and
will cost around $330 billion in debt servicing over the next
five years, a report said this week.
HSBC Chairman Mark Tucker said the lender has not received
any specific requests from a country to cancel its debts.
The bank also faced questions from shareholders at the
meeting on Friday over the pace at which it is halting funding
to coal power projects.
HSBC in March said it would phase out support for the coal
industry in the developed world by 2030, bowing to investor
pressure to speed up its exit from fossil fuel funding.
Investors managing some $2.4 trillion in assets who earlier
this year filed a resolution that would bind the bank to make
stronger commitments, withdrew it in a sign they had reached a
compromise with Europe's biggest bank.
HSBC's Tucker said the lender believes it is better to help
clients transition away from fossil fuels, rather than simply
stop working with them.
(Reporting By Lawrence White
Editing by Rachel Armstrong,Gareth Jones and David Evans)
