HSBC Shareholders Defeat Ping An-Backed Measures

Shareholders in HSBC, the European financial giant, voted on Friday to reject an investor proposal meant to pressure the bank into breaking off its lucrative Asian operations. That initiative — backed by HSBC’s largest investor, the sprawling Chinese insurer Ping An — received only about 20 percent of the votes, the company said. A companion proposal backed Ping An, to restore the bank’s dividend to prepandemic levels, was also defeated. The vote was a show of support for HSBC’s management, which had urged shareholders to vote no. It was announced…

Born in Asia but Based in Britain, HSBC Fights to Stay in One Piece

For many investors, HSBC, Europe’s largest lender with a venerable place in Britain’s banking industry, offers little to critique: It is performing well and has focused on its most profitable and fastest-growing operations, those in Asia. But for the firm’s largest investor, the sprawling Chinese insurance giant Ping An, that isn’t enough. Over the past year, Ping An has waged a campaign to convince HSBC to spin off its Hong Kong-based operations in some way, cracking open the bank’s global empire to improve its financial performance. It’s a move that…