HSBC Holdings PLC, Europe's largest bank, said it will withdraw from consumer banking in Japan, closing down six branches four years after starting the business.
HSBC will stop selling new investment products, including mutual funds, from March 8, and it will end operations in its branches in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya by July 31, the London-based bank said in the memo emailed to its customers Wednesday and obtained by Bloomberg News. A spokesman in London confirmed the details of the email.
The U.K. lender is scaling back in parts of Asia, including Japan, South Korea and Thailand, as Chief Executive Officer Stuart Gulliver cuts costs and prepares for tighter capital rules. HSBC last month agreed to sell operations in Costa Rica, El Salvador and Honduras to Colombia's Banco Davivienda SA for $801 million to focus on bigger markets in Latin America.