HSBC takes $500m hit from Chinese property crisis

HSBC takes $500m hit from Chinese property crisis

HSBC’s exposure to the Chinese property market has led to the banking giant taking a $500m (£368m) hit against the potential fallout from the crisis that has rocked the sector. The bank, which makes most of its money in Asia, said that the charge would cover an "increase in allowances to reflect recent developments in China’s commercial real estate sector". Developers such as Evergrande, the Chinese property behemoth, have defaulted under the weight of debt payments in recent months and upended the country's property sector. HSBC last year insisted that it expected no material fallout from the saga surrounding debt-riddled Evergrande. The London-based bank is placing all of its bets on growth in Asia and has been moving top executives from London to Hong Kong, where it was founded in 1865 to support international trade between China and Europe. China's overall wealth market is expected to boom in the coming years, with Goldman Sachs estimating that more than $35 trillion in Chinese household savings will be allocated to products such as securities, mutual funds and wealth management products by 2030. However, the lender said that it expects weaker performance in its wealth business in Asia in the first quarter of