HSBC is planning significant job cuts across its UK wealth management division after replacing staff with AI for its richest clients.
The London-headquartered bank, which is Europe’s biggest lender, has started a consultation process affecting managers and specialist advisers.
Around 70pc of the division’s financial advisers will be eliminated, while roughly half of its managers and specialists are set to disappear from its ranks, according to the Financial Times, which first reported the move.
Affected employees are expected to depart by the end of October.
The bank has not said how many jobs are at risk and has not published any headcounts for the division; however, it is thought to employ hundreds of relationship managers across the country.
HSBC had previously embarked on a hiring drive in 2024, with plans to add hundreds of relationship managers to a 400-strong team at the time.
That expansion was designed to double the UK wealth management arm’s assets to £100bn by 2030 and propel it into Britain’s top five wealth managers.
At the end of 2025, its retail banking and wealth division grew by £9bn to total more than £62bn.
Jose Carvalho, who led the UK retail banking and wealth arm, left his post three weeks ago after four years.
The restructuring comes after George Eldhedery stepped in as chief executive in September 2024 with a mandate to cut costs.
Mr Eldhedery has put AI at the heart of his efforts to boost productivity. In May, he told investors in Hong Kong: “We all know generative AI will destroy certain jobs and will create new jobs.”
Bloomberg reported in March that as many as 20,000 jobs at HSBC could be at risk globally as part of its push to use AI.
This would represent around 10pc of its workforce, which consists of about 211,479 staff.
It comes after rival Standard Chartered, which is also headquartered in the UK, set out plans to cut around 7,800 roles by 2030 as part of a drive to use more AI.
A spokesman for HSBC said: “HSBC UK is a long-established, leading UK wealth manager and premium banking provider. We’re continuing to evolve to deliver more digitally-enabled products and journeys, to support our best-in-class wealth service and meet the changing needs of our customers.”
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