(10 August 2026 – Australia) HSBC Australia is set to expand its corporate and institutional banking, private banking and asset management business with a focus on large corporates operating in multiple international markets.
Shortly after announcing the divestment of its A$36 billion mortgage and personal loan book to private equity giant Blackstone with further plans to sell A$17 billion of retail deposits still in motion, HSBC asserts the withdrawal from consumer banking was driven by senior management’s strategic focus on offerings where the group could effectively win business units in specific countries.
HSBC reported corporate and institutional bank profits in Australia were up 29 percent over the past three years, to US$519 million in calendar 2025. Australia is the eighth-largest corporate and institutional business globally for HSBC, and it represented 80 per cent of profits in the country before the retail bank was sold.
The Australian corporate bank subsidiary has a A$22 billion loan book backed by A$22 billion of corporate deposits, with 600 Australian companies as customers, including 63 percent of the S&P/ASX 100.
“We affirm HSBC’s commitment to the Australian market through our Corporate and Institutional, Private Banking and Asset Management businesses. We have an ambitious growth agenda across Australia and New Zealand and we see significant opportunities that play to HSBC’s strengths” commented HSBC Australia & New Zealand CEO, Steve Hughes.
“We’ve got great growth rates. We see lots of opportunity to grow. We’re very international, and we’ve already got the track record of delivery. Looking forward, we have a clear focus supporting our expanding client base of corporates, institutions, superannuation funds and innovative scale-ups as they pursue domestic and offshore growth and investment.”
“The capital expenditure cycle is broader and more durable than many appreciate. We think corporate lending growth can be sustained at the current six percent to nine percent, year-on-year level given the continued investment in AI, data centres, infrastructure, onshoring of supply chains and the energy transition. We think corporate and institutional lending will be stronger than expected, with tailwinds from a strong structural undercurrent related to the capex and investment cycle in Australia” stated UBS Analyst John Storey as reported by James Eyers for the AFR.