Retail Brokerage: Finance

Canadian Operations Dept: Yet ongoing volatility in the European banking sector has left HSBC plans in flux, and some people in the wealth management industry say its Canadian retail brokerage has been suffering from a declining profile for years, according to Globe And Mail. Although no suitors have been formally named, National Bank Financial is widely said to be in the running. The majority of HSBC’s wealth management money is located on the west coast, and Quebec-based National Bank has been trying to expand into Western Canada for years and the news is likely to catch some people off guard because Stuart Gulliver, the recently appointed head of HSBC, said just last month on a visit to Toronto that the Canadian operations would not affected by his overhaul of one of the world largest financial institutions. The bank has said it will lay off 30,000 people worldwide by 2013 and has been shedding assets, including branches and its U.S. credit card unit. It is a good time for HSBC to sell. Wealth management is a hot sector coming out of the Great Recession. Financial institutions have been forced to carry more capital because of reforms, but the business of managing money and providing investment advice does not require much capital. And it provides the banks with money management fees that aren nearly as volatile as investment banking advisory fees or trading revenues. As reported in the news. @t wealth management industry, globe and mail