HSBC Malta to sell card acquiring operation

HSBC Bank Malta has announced that it is in discussions regarding the possible sale of its card acquiring operation.

“A further announcement will be made if or when appropriate,” its company secretary announced in a formal Stock Exchange statement.

Back in August, HSBC Holdings agreed the sale of its US credit card division to Capital One Financial as continued its restructuring.

The sale of the US card unit, which had assets of about $30.4 billion, is part of a $3.5bn global cost-cutting plan under new chief executive Stuart Gulliver.

HSBC is Europe’s biggest bank, and it may consider selling the businesses by splitting it by region.

Potential buyers are attracted to HSBC’s captive customer base and the distribution network available through its bank branches.

Some of HSBC’s US operations struggled after the subprime mortgage crisis and the bank was forced into writedowns. It had also announced cuts of 30,000 jobs worldwide by 2013.

The US credit card business unit was part of a company called Household, which HSBC bought in 2003. The sale does not include the credit card arm of HSBC Bank USA, which has assets of about $1.1bn.

In other news, European insurers AXA SA, Assicurazioni Generali SpA, Japan’s Tokio Marine and MS&AD Insurance Group are among suitors to submit first round bids for HSBC’s non-life insurance business, in a deal worth about $1 billion.

HSBC’s planned sale is the first major bancassurance deal attempted in Asia and the valuation of this transaction will set a benchmark for other similar deals.