Hong Kong & Shanghai Banking Corp. Ltd. will close its Saipan branch within the year, citing its difficulty to build a competitive market position on the island due to the economic crisis.
“The…branch on Saipan will close by the end of the year while the Guam office will cease to offer transactional banking services and take on no new business with immediate effect,” the bank said in a statement
Guy Priestley, chief executive officer of the bank’s Guam and Saipan branches, said the board wants to “reposition” and reduce its operations in the Marianas.
“After 26 years on Guam and six on Saipan, the HSBC group did not take this decision lightly. However, the operation cannot deliver the value that our shareholders require in the long-term. In particular, in the present economic environment it is difficult to build a competitive market position,” Priestley said.
Although the law does not require notice or cause to terminate employment, HSBC is offering a reasonable severance payment, plus certain fringe benefits to the affected staff, he said.
“HSBC thanks its staff for their loyalty and hard work. HSBC is also deeply grateful for the patronage of its customers over the years and hope they will continue to use the services of the HSBC group elsewhere in the world,” Priestley said.
HSBC will assist Saipan customers to switch their accounts to another bank of their choice, he added.
HSBC Guam will remain open to service the loans of existing customers, according to Priestley.
Northern Marianas Housing Corp., which is under the Commonwealth Development Authority, signed last year a loan-guaranty program agreement that would allow local residents to borrow money from HSBC.
The agreement was reached to help local residents build or improve their homes through loans from HSBC that could reach as high as $2 million.
CDA officials were unavailable for comment yesterday.
HSBC is one of the world’s leading international and financial services organizations.
It has more than 5,500 offices in 79 countries in the Asia Pacific region, Europe, the Middle East, the Americas and Africa.
