Ping An urges HSBC to make aggressive cost cuts

HONG KONG : HSBC Holdings shareholder Ping An has urged the lender to cut costs aggressively and exit sub-scale non-Asian markets as the Chinese insurer pushes harder for the bank to spin off its Asia operation.

HSBC should be "more aggressive in radically reducing costs" and consider layoffs, Ping An Asset Management, the bank's largest shareholder and a wholly-owned unit of Ping An Insurance, said in a statement on Friday.