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Bloomberg
HSBC Holdings Plc is in talks to sell its Russia unit to local lender Expobank, according to two people with knowledge of the discussions.
A deal would mark another exit of an international lender after the Kremlin-ordered invasion of Ukraine. Societe Generale SA agreed to sell its Rosbank PJSC unit to the investment firm of Russia’s richest man, Vladimir Potanin, taking a roughly 3 billion-euro hit on the deal. Wall Street firms including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. said in March they would wind down operations there.
London-based HSBC exited retail banking in Russia several years ago and now primarily serves corporate clients. The unit’s total assets stood at $1.4 billion as of June 2021, when it employed 249 people.
HSBC said in April it wasn’t accepting new business or customers at its Russia unit, but that it wouldn’t fully withdraw from the nation as it had a responsibility to its multinational corporate clients. The bank took a $250 million charge in the first quarter related to Russian counterparties.