HSBC Holdings PLC has reportedly lost at least 10 leading deal-makers and "dozens" of investment bankers in Europe, Reuters reported, citing sources who blamed the departures on a lack of strategic direction in HSBC's European business.
Those who have left include senior managers in the bank's private equity team, such as Umberto Giacometti who quit in May to join Nomura Holdings Inc. The consumer and retail director for the bank, Patrick Philion, also left to join Nomura in May. Dan Cohen, head of HSBC's high-yield trading also left for Nomura in April.
The departures came after Matthew Westerman, a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. veteran, suddenly left HSBC last November, the newswire reported.
HSBC staff told Reuters they felt the European business was "rudderless" and unlikely to compete with U.S. based investment banking giants.
A spokesperson for HSBC, however, said the bank had hired more senior bankers recently than have left. Reuters reported that, according to a list of hires provided by the bank, the majority of the hires are based in North America and Asia. HSBC CEO John Flint is scheduled June 11 to unveil the bank's plans to expand further in China.
