HONG KONG - Banking giant HSBC said Wednesday it has agreed to sell
its general-insurance businesses in Hong Kong, Singapore, Argentina and Mexico
for around US$914 million(S$1,153).
The move is part of the bank's strategy to cut costs and focus on
growth, HSBC Group Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver said in a statement to the
Hong Kong stock exchange.
"It will enable us to focus our capital and resources on the
growth of our core businesses, including the building of our broader wealth
management capabilities," he said.
HSBC Insurance (Asia), HSBC Insurance (Singapore) and HSBC Seguros SA
de CV Grupo Financiero HSBC will sell their general insurance businesses in
Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico to AXA Group for around US$494 million, the
bank said.
Australian insurer QBE Insurance Group would buy the general-insurance
business in Argentina and Hong Kong-based Hang Seng Bank's general-insurance
manufacturing unit. Hang Seng Bank is 62 per cent-owned by HSBC Group.
The deals would cost QBE around US$420 million in cash.
"These long-term collaborations with AXA and QBE will broaden and
strengthen the suite of general insurance products available to our retail
banking and commercial banking customers in Hong Kong, mainland China,
Singapore, India, Indonesia, Mexico and Argentina," Gulliver said.
HSBC announced last year that it intended to offload its global
general-insurance operations as it sought to cut costs and raise capital in the
face of the weak global economy and higher capital adequacy requirements.
French insurance group AXA said it had also secured a 10-year exclusive
property and casualty bancassurance agreement with HSBC in India, Indonesia and
China as part of the deal.
It would make AXA the leading property and casualty insurer in Hong
Kong, it added.
"With this agreement we are making a huge step towards becoming
the leading property and casualty insurer in Asia," AXA Asia Regional
Chief Financial Officer Francois-Valery Lecomte said in a statement.
AFP
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