Banking giant HSBC has confirmed plans to axe up to 25,000 jobs worldwide including as many as 8,000 in the UK and revealed it is to rebrand its British high street operations.
The bank said the job losses are part of a overall cull which will reduce its total full-time workforce by around 10% to slash costs and overhaul the business, while it will also shrink its employee base by another 25,000 amid plans to sell off operations in Turkey and Brazil.
HSBC - which employs around 48,000 of its 258,000 staff in the UK - added that its UK retail bank which is being relocated from London to Birmingham by 2019 amid regulatory ''ringfencing'' rules, will operate under a new brand name that is yet to be decided on.
The group also delivered a blow to customers by announcing aims to trim its worldwide network of branches by 12%, with the UK being one of seven regions to be impacted.
It declined to give further details for UK branch closures.