“Role Reductions” At HSBC Bermuda Office
[Updated] HSBC Bermuda today [Aug 7] confirmed there will be “role reductions” in the Bermuda office following a decision to move certain fund administration and custody services to their offices in Europe.
An HSBC Bermuda spokesperson stated: “Following a strategic review of the HSBC Securities Services business [HSS] in Bermuda and after careful deliberation and consideration, a decision has been made to discontinue the provision of certain fund administration and custody services from the HSS Bermuda office.
“Registrar and transfer agency services and traditional global custody services will continue to be provided to the HSS Bermuda client base but their delivery will transition to other HSS offices in Europe.
“There will be role reductions as a consequence of the decision and the management of HSBC Bank Bermuda Limited will endeavour to redeploy those staff members affected wherever it can. It is not expected that there will be any impact in terms of the service proposition delivered to HSS clients.
“HSS remains committed to providing fund administration services to the hedge fund industry and to the growth and development of its global custody product in order to best serve the local Bermuda market.”
We asked HSBC how many jobs will be reduced as a result of these changes, and will update as able.
Update: An HSBC spokesperson said, “We are unable to confirm the actual number of redundancies at this point as we are working with those impacted to find alternative employment. In some cases we have already secured alternative roles for individuals within HSS. We remain committed to redeploy resources wherever possible and that is our focus at this time.”
I heard 20 jobs gone today. Just shipped away by the world’s “local” bank.
hsbc is not a local bank the only local bank at the moment is CAPITAL G
HSBC comes to Bermuda, closes departments and makes Bermudians redundant. Bring back Bank of Bermuda!
HSBC didn’t just “come” to Bermuda. The PLP let them in.
But the plp told us those trips were to promote tourism. Go figure!
What absolute nonsense—the shareholders voted for the sale— very few if any wear PLP pins on their lapels
Do you really think HSBC could have moved to Bermuda without government approval? Bank shareholders are not the only ones who can broker a deal with banks & this is evident with the recent global news. Who is the chairman of HSBC’s brother? Who is the Assistant Vice President in the Private Banking Division of HSBC?
They were so sweet to us when they arrived and during King Phillip’s reign. Now we see their strong arm taking away ATM Machines like they don’t need or respect the little guy who made the Bank of Bermuda what it was. Turn back the clock and they would not have been allowed here. I don’t know too many people who are happy with that bank and the way it treats its customers. Nice snowballs and cricket sponsorship but what we want is SERVICE and the bank is NOT providing it.
2000+++++++++++++++++++++++++ LMAO
PLP would be 4000+++++++++++++++ LMAO
Bermuda needs to develop a more hermetic economy globalization will eventually swallow up small and socially divisive communities
forget another 400 years Bermuda will be lucky to see another 40
you should leave now..get crackin..
Must be those work permits!!!!!!!!! PLP why are you worrying about securing jobs for people who actually where born in this country,, that is foolish.. ohhh i am sorry, its not the PLP anymore is it? well what is it now?? lol
Short answer is “we don’t want to be here” but we don’t care what happens to Bermuda when we leave.
soooo..leave now..whats stopping you?
Bank of Bermuda used to employ 8 years ago 1100 employees, most Bermudian. The public were promised with a lot of fanfare when the Bank of Bermuda was bought by HSBC that Bermuda would be better off with more jobs and a global bank attracting more customers. Bermuda HSBC now may have half the employees approximately around 600 people. The original idea to let HSBC may have been flawed? With HSBC I cant even get Euro sent from a bank in France to Bermuda with HSBC Bermuda. however Capital G can get Euros from a bank in France to Bermuda. Thank you Capital G. This bank is really Bermuda’s best local bank!
Hmmmmm….Cap G ain’t too far behind! Local banking isn’t sustainable in order to compete on the world stage. Get your heads out of the sand Bermuda! The other islands have all Big named Banks!!! Watch this space….
The Bank of Bermuda had an enviable fee earning business in private trust and corporate trust services worldwide which was developed and run by a predominantly Bermudian team. Regrettably the last leadership team did not understand this and opted to be personally enriched if they saw to the take over by HSBC, who largely wanted to remove the Bank of Bermuda as a competitor. So we have 2 local banks that used to be broadly owned by Bermudians earning foreign currency, employing many Bermudians, paying dividends and earning a respected reputation for Bermuda in general, largely destroyed by the greed and stupidity of senior management. We did this to ourselves, it was entirely under our control and not the fault of the foreign interests,, the PLP or the UBP – it was the failure of the Boards and senior management to properly look out for the best interests of the businesses, the shareholder and Bermuda.
The other islands have always had big named banks. We were the exception, now we have become another bad example. If Cap G would just give me more access to ATMs I would move in a heartbeat.
As I said….Watch this space…the world is changing, so will Bermuda! Yes know this of the other islands…
Brink you can access all the ATM’s in Bermuda and Cap G pays the user fee for you.
Just so you know Brinks- Cap G account holders can use any ATM – no fees! I switched 3 yrs ago and never had a problem!!
I believe this used to be the case. Not anymore.
And so the departure begins! The greed that lead top foreign ownership of our once strong banks will swallow us up and spit us out if we are not careful! It is bad enough that they have the nerve to advertise themselves as Bermudas local bank!
So what is going on with HSBC ? Can you just imagine loosing your job in these economic times..
I wonder if HSBC are winding down in bermuda…….
We can lie down and accept defeat, or we can step up and become leaders once again! The services have moved, not stopped. If we can step up, become more efficient, smarter than the competition we can get it back.
That’s what happens with foreign ownership…the only thing that matters is $$$. People are just a means to an end…human resources become slaves to making the share holders more and more money.
1010% AGREE!!!
More jobs lost where will these people go? Its time we held our government responsible, they need to start encouraging the creation of a new industry to supplement IB and Tourism, also the regulations on local business need to be relaxed in every sector, come on OBA do something for the unemployed and the entrepenures who need an opening, you immediately helped out the IB sector by relaxing the work permit laws, do the same for the citizens.
You mean follow Marc Bean’s vision and plan? Makes sense to me!
Last week before Cup match there was this wonderful letter from CEO Richard Moseley about the wonders of Bermuda and how HSBC was totally committed to Bermuda. This week we hear more about layoffs. What a difference a week makes. Literally.
This is just one of many more hard knocks to come for Bermuda! You Bermudians were on your high horses for to long, your Island is doomed!
@Ghetto. And where do you live exactly? If you live here and are no longer happy – you have the right to move. If you live elsewhere, I trust that your government will learn from our mistakes and its own. We are not perfect but we will not roll over and play dead either. We have a tough road ahead and we know it. We were tourism leaders, banking and international business leaders. We may not be the leaders in any of those anymore but were are not far behind. We shall overcome. We will rebuild. We will stand strong. You can help if you want or leave.
Again Brinks- Go Get Em!
I’m glad you take pleasure in people’s misery. You must have known all 60,000 Bermudians personally? Karma is real so that negativity you project onto people will come right around back to you. Enjoy.
From the looks of things most of the world is doomed. Bermuda is not the only country trying to keep its head above water. America pretends things are getting better but America has always been the the great pretender. I would love to know what utopia you live in so I can enlighten you on the difference between fantasy & reality.
So were you Brits and or Americans.. ST_U and leave!!!
BTW “role reductions” / OE (HSBC language for “Opertional excellence”)is just more Group speak for laying off Bermudian staff among other countries. Maybe if HSBC cut back on Tuckers Point /Mid Ocean /golf membership and housing allowances allowances they would not have to lay so many people.
5 ……the average amount of posts before a news article becomes political ….smh
Bermuda did quite well before the relaxation of 60/40. All the banks made profits and there was no unemployment except for those persons who were physically challenged or who chose not to work. The problem we face now is due to one thing, greed. Maximize shareholder value became the catch phrase which essentially meant that a business had to always exceed the prior year’s net income. A return of 15 per cent year on year with a consistent dividend was not enough, one had to exceed prior year’s return. By the way, we priced ourselves out of the market with extraordinarily high packages to senior management, not clerical level who are bearing the brunt of these redundancies.
Back to Basics,
Just wanted to say, physically challenged people CAN work, and many do! My husband is in a wheelchair, college-educated, certified, and has been looking for a job for many months now. When he attends an interview, many employers just can’t see past the chair, even though he has the skills and qualifications asked for in the job advert. I’m not trying to get on a soapbox here, just trying to do my part to change perceptions of disabilities.
But I do agree with you, I believe that relaxing 60/40 is going to see a lot more of this sort of thing happening. The people of Bermuda were hoodwinked with this HSBC deal – only the executives and shareholders really won in the end, because of greed. I was working in HSS Securities doing custody work around the time HSBC took over, I saw more and more responsibility shifting over to the London office before I left, and the whole time I was thinking – how long until they send these jobs over there for good?
I guess I know the answer now.
HSBC…you bunch should call it what it is…REDUNDANCIES. DON’T SWEET TALK IT AS “ROLE REDUCTIONS”!!!YOU STABBED EVERY BERMUDIAN IN THEIR BACKS WHEN YOU TOOK OVER!!!!!!!!WHAT YOU GOTTA SAY NOW PHIL?! GOT YOURS INNA?!
Anything but the world’s local bank – they have done Bermuda no favours. And as or that abomination of a new building that has ripped the soul out of Hamilton, why was it built if there are no jobs left to fill it? Mr. T’s when he was there employed 200 Bermudians and was a Hamilton icon – Even former senior bankers now admit it was political.
ironic thing the co-Head of HSBC Securities Services based in London is Bermudian!
The writing is on the wall. They announced this in May. It is not anything new.
“HSBC to cut use of tax havens as chairman Douglas Flint says they have ‘bad name’”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/10079997/HSBC-to-cut-use-of-tax-havens-as-chairman-Douglas-Flint-says-they-have-bad-name.html
I wonder if HSBC realizes that global news of money laundering for drug cartels gives them a worse name then the use of tax havens.
Bermuda is a very expensive place to do business.
Up until recently it was nay on impossible to import staff to undertake some of these rolls. Surely it makes perfect sense to outsource these functions.
Didn’t many locals make a killing on their BOB stock during the buyout, putting it into real estate and the construction industry?
I wonder how many employees have lost their houses due to losing their jobs and as a consequence who subsequently purchased those houses? Writing is on the wall for all those who want to see it.
That’s what happens when you allow economic hitman from shores afar to control your destiny .. initially they must have willing local partner… enter the bankers – real estate moguls ( Swan )& lawyers.. they must give some locals the opportunity to do well, extremely well, and they must make it so damn hard for you to turn your backs on them that you will do whatever they ask, almost anything..enter Sharman and Ronnie Viera…We couldn’t be satisfied with owning a small home or affordable rents – nooo, we found it hard to take 1 good trip a year or buy a car and keep it until TCD foreclosed on it…nope we let John Deuss Swan and others tell us that we could be so much more than what we were..that we should compete with those guys on Wall Street and just look how that has worked out.. Blame the lame PLP all you want and yes they were complicit, but this mess was long in the making but the PLP played but a bit part in what we are currently experiencing..the UBP and cohorts masterplan has come back to haunt us
Greed kills and we are on oxygen support.
“Role Reductions”????…interesting phrase…..
Maybe someone should ask Paula Cox what the deal was when HSBC bought Bank of Bermuda.
Any one currently working in these rolls at the bank could presumably move with the job if its being moved to Europe.
This could be a real win/win for European expatriates. They will get to continue on their career path, but live in a place where you can vote, buy a home and be on the level with all around them.
Taxes will be higher, but the cost of living will be lower.
I wonder if there are other expatriates on the rock requesting a physical job relocation in order to gain the benefits of equal rights? Seems like a no brainer.