HSBC/Canada: Vancouver manoeuvre would give respite from Ping An
HSBC sold its US retail banking business last year. The group that once billed itself “the world’s local bank” has now launched a strategic review of its Canadian business, with a sale as one option. But saying goodbye to Canada would be more challenging than withdrawing from the US.
That statement may seem counterintuitive. Unlike the US unit, which was consistently lossmaking, the Canadian business is profitable. HSBC Bank Canada is the seventh-largest lender in the country with C$125bn ($91bn) of assets and C$74bn of loans. Focused on western Canada, it made $768mn in pre-tax profit last year.
But the Canadian banking market is a peculiar beast. It is dominated by a handful of domestic players that includes Royal Bank of Canada, Toronto-Dominion Bank and Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank). A Big Six controls more than 80 per cent of total assets.
This story originally appeared on: Financial Times - Author:Tax Cognition
