HSBC has agreed to sell its Russian unit to local lender Expobank, the latest international bank to exit the country following its invasion of Ukraine.
The London-based firm said in a statement that it had reached a deal without disclosing the transaction amount. Bloomberg
“Following a strategic review, HSBC has signed an agreement to sell 100% of its participating interests in HSBC Bank (RR) LLC to Expobank JSC,” the statement said. “Completion of this transaction is subject to various regulatory approvals within Russia. With this agreement, the HSBC Group will exit its operations in Russia.”
An Expobank spokeswoman declined to comment.
The deal would require approval from a special government commission in Russia. It plans to review individual requests on the sale of foreign bank units in the country without instigating a blanket ban on such deals, two officials familiar with discussions on the matter have said.
HSBC stopped providing retail banking products in Russia several years ago after an earlier strategic review, but had continued to service its international corporate clients operating in the market. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February the bank said its local unit would not accept any new customers or business.
The deal marks another exit of an international lender following the Kremlin-ordered invasion of Ukraine. Societe Generale agreed to sell its Rosbank unit to the investment firm of Russia’s richest man, Vladimir Potanin. Wall Street firms including Goldman Sachs Group and JPMorgan Chase said in March they would wind down operations there.
Single branch
HSBC had a single branch in Russia and 249 employees at the end of June 2021, according to the unit’s latest available annual report. It had total assets of about 90 billion rubles ($1.6 billion) at that time, the filing shows.
HSBC provides a range of corporate banking, investment banking and financial markets products and services to multinational and domestic corporate and institutional customers in Russia, according to its website.
Expobank is owned by Russian entrepreneur Igor Kim and has offices in more than 50 Russian cities providing corporate and retail banking services . Neither the bank nor its owner are sanctioned. Reuters reported news of the sale earlier.
— With assistance from Alexander Sazonov.
