HSBC expands startup-focused group in Singapore as part of global push

NEW YORK (Reuters) -HSBC has expanded its innovation banking business to Singapore, pledging to allocate $1.5 billion in the city-state as part of a global push to lend to startup companies, the bank said on Wednesday.

The group in HSBC's commercial bank was established in 2023 after it hired dozens of employees from failed Silicon Valley Bank. It has since grown to include more than 900 bankers serving clients in the United States, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Europe, India, Hong Kong and mainland China.

"We have our own credit policy, our own credit approach to support the needs of these cash-burning businesses" in sectors such as technology and healthcare, Dave Sabow, HSBC's global head of innovation banking, told Reuters in an interview.

"We're working with the most liquid part of the global economy, so you think about the capital being raised in technology, when you think about the IPOs that are happening... our balance sheet is a great place, a stable place for you to park that capital."

In the first half of this year, HSBC's innovation banking business grew its active clients by almost 60%, the bank said, without providing specific figures. Deposits rose by about 50% and loan commitments by roughly 25%, it added.

(Reporting by Lananh Nguyen in New York; Editing by Jamie Freed)