HSBC spent $67.5mn last year axing 134 material risk takers — about 10 per cent of the group's total — marking its largest annual cull of senior bankers since the 2008 financial crisis, according to company filings analysed by the FT.

Chief executive Georges Elhedery is pushing a major overhaul of HSBC's investment banking operations, shutting down mergers and acquisitions and equity capital markets advisory businesses in the US, UK and Europe. One person close to the bank said the reduction was part of a "broader trend" targeting "duplicate" roles across the group.

The cuts contributed to the biggest decline in high-paid bankers across Europe's largest lenders since 2020. Santander and Deutsche Bank shed 49 and 48 material risk takers respectively, while BNP Paribas and Barclays removed 39 and 32. Société Générale had the highest average severance at €870,000, and Santander paid the largest single package at €8.3mn.

Meanwhile, UBS spent $942mn on severance for more than 7,500 staff — a third higher than the previous year — as it nears completion of its Credit Suisse integration. The Swiss lender's average payout was $125,000.