According to a London Stock Exchange announcement, the company’s operations in the country have ceased to undertake new business, but will continue to provide full banking services to clients until closure – expected to be completed by the end of the third quarter of 2012.
The move is the latest step in a portfolio review unveiled at the HSBC investor day in May 2011, and follows the announcements this year of several planned disposals.
These included the sales of: its property and casualty businesses in Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico; its Thailand-based retail banking and wealth management arm; its banking operations in Costa Rica, El Salvador and Honduras; and its Argentinean insurance manufacturing subsidiary.
On the decision to exit Slovakia, Brian Robertson, chief executive at HSBC, said: “We continue to make progress in sharpening our capital discipline, by refocusing our European operations on businesses where we can deliver sustainable profits and growth.”
