HSBC Holdings PLC plans to let go of about 100 employees in its equities division, most of whom will come from Europe and Asia, Reuters reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.

The job cuts affect the London-based group's equities research, sales, trading and back-office teams, according to the Jan. 17 report. HSBC reportedly plans to refocus its European equities business on its home market in the U.K. while its Paris office becomes its EU base.

The plan comes ahead of the release of the bank's full-year 2019 results Feb. 18. Interim CEO Noel Quinn will likely unveil his new strategy the same day, Reuters noted.

In October 2019, Bloomberg News reported that HSBC could scale back its equities business in Europe and the U.S. as part of Quinn's program. The bank currently has about 238,000 global employees, according to Reuters.