Ping An Deepens HSBC Battle With Call for Strategic Review

(Bloomberg) — HSBC Holdings Plc’s largest shareholder has kept up the pressure on the bank to revamp its business as it called for a “strategic restructuring” of the lender, just weeks before its annual shareholder meeting.

Ping An Insurance Group Co. of China Ltd. publicly called for the creation of “a separately listed Asia business headquartered in Hong Kong,” in a statement Tuesday. “It is necessary for HSBC to push for structural reform to fundamentally address HSBC’s underlying market competitiveness issues, improve performance, enhance value and accelerate growth opportunities in Asia.”