HSBC shareholders to vote on potential split of bank

Hong Kong investors have forced HSBC into a shareholder vote on its structure and strategy, including a potential spin-off of its Asian arm.

An investor group, led by the minority shareholder Ken Lui, said the bank’s Asian activities were “effectively subsidising the western businesses”.

Lui heads a group that campaigns for the move and which took out newspaper adverts demanding such a change last year after a similar call, also last year, by the Chinese insurer Ping An, which holds a stake of more than 8% in the bank.