HSBC started 2019 with a chief executive poised for growth and focused on making its 238,000 employees the “best version of themselves”. It is ending the year with a new boss cutting thousands of jobs, culling clients and putting businesses on the block.
The change in approach was triggered by storm clouds in the bank’s two most important markets. Violent antigovernment protests have rocked Hong Kong, while the UK economy is being tested by uncertainty over its planned exit from the European Union.
