SEOUL, KOREA - HSBC will close ten branch offices out of 11 in Korea, as part of its plan to withdraw from the private banking business entirely. The bank said on July 5 that it would begin the process from the 8th. Except the Bongrae office in Seoul dedicated to corporate banking, it would close all ten offices. It has been 15 years since the bank started the private banking business in Korea in 1998.

 

An HSBC official said, "We will try to get an approval from banking authorities for our closure." To this, an official of the Financial Services Commission said, "An appropriate response will be made after looking into whether there is any instance of depositors losing their money and severance pays are paid in full.

 

As of the end of March, the deposit balance of HSBC Korea was 200 billion won. The number of employees in the private banking sector was 244 out of all employees of 793. The bank said it would keep servicing existing private banking clients even though it would stop taking in new customers. As for the employees of the sector, it will soon begin taking early retirement applications.