Finance
HSBC bonus pool flat in 2024 amid cost-cut drive; headcount falls 3%
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on February 19, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 26, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on February 19, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 26, 2026
HSBC's 2024 bonus pool remains flat at $3.80 billion, with a 3% reduction in workforce. CEO Elhedery focuses on cost-cutting and restructuring to boost returns.
By Scott Murdoch and Selena Li
SYDNEY/HONG KONG (Reuters) - HSBC's headcount fell 3% last year and its staff bonus pool hardly changed as a new CEO sharpened focus on costs and initiated sweeping restructuring of the Asia-focused lender, showed its 2024 financial report issued on Wednesday.
The bank's bonus cash pool reached $3.80 billion in 2024 versus $3.77 billion a year earlier, the report showed.
HSBC posted annual profit that beat market estimates, helped by increased revenue in wealth and markets businesses. It also set stiff cost-cutting targets under CEO Georges Elhedery's push to boost returns with increasing attention on Asia where the London-headquartered bank earns the bulk of its profit.
Elhedery received 5.4 million pounds ($6.8 million) in total compensation for 2024, fattened by an annual incentive applied after Britain's removal of a cap on bonuses for top bankers.
The CEO could earn as much as 15.2 million pounds ($19.2 million) in the current year, with more than half comprised of the variable or bonus component, the report showed.
HSBC shareholders in May backed a resolution to lift a cap on bonuses for its top UK bankers after Britain axed a policy limiting payouts inherited from the European Union.
Banks including Barclays, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan have substantially raised caps on bonuses over the past year for their top UK-based bankers.
HSBC's report also showed its global workforce totalled 220,928 across its businesses versus 227,552 in 2023 and 232,642 in 2022. There was a 5.5% reduction in staff at its wealth and personal banking business.
The banks' salary and benefits bill reached $20.15 billion for 2024, up slightly from $19.62 billion one year earlier.
As part of the restructuring, the bank in October said it would combine some of its commercial and investment banking businesses and had installed a new leadership structure.
The bank cut 40 investment bankers in Hong Kong on Monday, Reuters reported on Tuesday.
($1 = 0.7927 pounds)
(Reporting by Scott Murdoch in Sydney and Selena Li in Hong Kong; Editing by Sumeet Chatterjee and Christopher Cushing)
HSBC's bonus cash pool reached $3.80 billion in 2024, slightly up from $3.77 billion the previous year.
HSBC's headcount fell by 3% last year, with a total workforce of 220,928 compared to 227,552 in 2023.
Under CEO Georges Elhedery, HSBC has set stiff cost-cutting targets and initiated a restructuring of its Asia-focused operations.
HSBC shareholders backed a resolution to lift the cap on bonuses for top UK bankers after Britain removed a policy limiting payouts.
HSBC's salary and benefits bill reached $20.15 billion for 2024, up slightly from $19.62 billion the previous year.
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