HSBC Holdings PLC, one of the world’s largest banks, said it would pour about $6 billion of extra investment into Asia in the next five years, as it doubles down on its core business.
The London-based bank, which makes most of its profit in Hong Kong and mainland China, said Tuesday that earnings fell 35% to $3.9 billion last year as the coronavirus pandemic roiled the global economy. HSBC set aside $8.82 billion in provisions for bad loans last year versus less than $3 billion in 2019.
Chief Executive Noel Quinn is leading the reorganization of the bank. Geopolitical tension between China and Western countries has strained his ambition for the bank to be a financial bridge between the most populous nation and the rest of the world. HSBC last year supported China’s imposition of a national security law in Hong Kong, which the U.S.
and British governments opposed.
“We plan to focus on and invest in the areas in which we are strongest,”
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