Vancouver-based HSBC Bank Canada is shutting down the consumer finance side of its HSBC Financial Corp. subsidiary and laying off 68 workers in B.C. as well as 432 staff in the rest of the country.
HSBC Bank Canada inherited the HSBC Financial Corp. business when London-based HSBC Holdings plc bought Household International in 2003.
The move does not have anything to do with HSBC Bank Canada’s consumer loan business.
HSBC Financial Corp. provided loans largely to people who could not get ordinary bank loans. Financing included sub-prime mortgages, personal lines of credit, term loans to consumers as well as third-party private-label credit card programs.
“This move, while not taken lightly, will allow HSBC to better focus our resources on the core businesses that matter most to our Canadian banking customers,” said Lindsay Gordon, chairman of both HSBC Financial Corp. Ltd. and president and CEO of HSBC Bank Canada.
“Our first preference was to sell the finance business. Despite concerted efforts, a suitable buyer could not be found.”
Business in Vancouver last year ranked HSBC Bank Canada as the fifth largest private company in B.C. with $2.5 billion in revenue.
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