British banking giant HSBC will pay more than one billion euros to the American fund Cerberus to sell all of its retail banking activities in France, the daily
Les Echos
said on Tuesday
.
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The Cerberus fund would thus take over the network of 230 bank branches and 4,000 employees of HSBC's retail banking activity in France, a sector showing large losses, detail
Les Echos
.
Asked by AFP on Tuesday evening, the British bank did not comment and referred to its annual report published on February 23, where it indicated that it was
"in negotiations"
to sell the retail banking activities in France, and specified that
"if the sale were to materialize, a loss is expected"
.
"A loss is expected on the sale"
When presenting its results for the first quarter of 2021 at the end of April, the bank explained that it was continuing negotiations on the potential sale of its retail branches in France.
"If a sale is implemented, given the performance of these operations, a loss is expected on the sale,"
then confirmed HSBC. In 2020, the French subsidiary lost more than one billion euros. HSBC currently has 8,500 employees in France, including 4,000 in its retail banking business.
