DUBAI/LONDON: HSBC is considering selling its Turkey business amid concerns about the country’s volatile currency and economic outlook, sources familiar with the matter said.
As part of broader cost-cutting measures under interim Chief Executive Noel Quinn, the bank is also seeking to sell or shrink its business in some other markets, the sources said.
These include countries where it has small-scale operations that struggle to compete with local players, including Armenia, Greece and Oman, they said.
A spokeswoman for HSBC declined to comment.
HSBC will seek to sell its banking business in Turkey if it can find a local buyer, the sources said, adding that no final decision has yet been taken.
The bank’s retreat from Turkey, where it has operated since 1990, would be one of the biggest exits from a country it has made in recent years as it shrinks its once globe-spanning empire.
HSBC has already shrunk its presence from some 315 branches and around 6,000 staff in 2013 to around 80 branches and 2,000 staff as of September last year, according to data from the Banks Association of Turkey.
Turkey has been a problem country for HSBC in recent years as volatility in the lira and economic problems have hit its returns, with the bank flagging rising expected loan losses there in its 2018 annual report.
A currency crisis in 2018 cut the lira’s value by nearly 30%, brought on a brief but sharp recession, and prompted Ankara to clamp down on the financial sector with a series of new rules aimed at stabilizing the currency and kick-starting economic growth.
The lender previously attempted to sell its business in Turkey in 2015, Reuters reported at the time, with Dutch lender ING among the interested parties.
But the sale never went through, and the lender instead pursued branch closures and job cuts that saw it swing from a loss in 2014 and 2015 to a profit of 456 million lira ($77.02 million) in the first nine months of 2019.
Despite that improved performance, the risks from currency volatility and the economic situation mean HSBC still wants to exit, the sources said.
Interim CEO Quinn is expected to announce his cost-cutting measures when the bank reports annual results and its new strategy on Feb. 18.
Quinn is auditioning for the full-time CEO role under chairman Mark Tucker. He is tipped by insiders at the bank to get the job, although it could yet go to a surprise external candidate.
The bank is also shedding around 100 roles in its equities business as it scales back in continental Europe, Reuters reported earlier this month.
HSBC considering exit from Turkey — sources
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HSBC considering exit from Turkey — sources
- HSBC will seek to sell its banking business in Turkey if it can find a local buyer
- A currency crisis in 2018 cut the lira’s value by nearly 30%
Four Seasons Beirut to reopen in 2026 after reconstruction
JEDDAH: The Four Seasons Hotel in Beirut is set to reopen in the first quarter of 2026 after undergoing a comprehensive rehabilitation, according to a statement from Kingdom Holding Co.
“On the occasion of a new era for Lebanon, and under the leadership of His Excellency President Joseph Aoun, I am pleased to announce that the Four Seasons Hotel, Beirut, which Kingdom Holding built, will be entirely reconstructed and refurnished by Kingdom Beirut S.A.L and will reopen to the public in Q1 of 2026,” Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, chairman of KHC, wrote on his X account on Tuesday.
Prince Al-Waleed further noted that the hotel, located adjacent to Beirut’s Zaitunay Bay marina, would be upgraded to the highest international standards. The revamp is expected to position the property as one of the premier urban resorts worldwide.
The timing of the announcement follows recent diplomatic developments, including a call from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to congratulate Lebanon’s new president, with an invitation to visit the Kingdom.
The Four Seasons Beirut was severely damaged in the 2020 Beirut Port explosion, which devastated much of downtown Beirut, an area once popular with Gulf tourists.
The region has since been affected by geopolitical tensions, including Hezbollah’s involvement in the Syrian war and its support for Houthis in Yemen.
Four Seasons, one of the world’s leading luxury hotel chains, has been privately owned by KHC and Cascade Investment, the investment vehicle controlled by Bill Gates, since 2007. Both KHC and Cascade own 47.5 percent stakes in the company, with the remaining 5 percent held by Triple Holdings, which represents Four Seasons’ founder, Isadore Sharp, according to KHC’s website.
KHC’s relationship with Four Seasons dates back to 1994, when the company first recognized the brand’s potential and invested in a minority stake through a private equity deal.
Saudi Arabia, Pakistan to announce major collaborations in mining, minister reveals
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are set to announce major collaborations in the mining sector, with a particular focus on copper and gold assets, according to a top official.
Speaking to Arab News on the first day of the Future Minerals Forum 2025, taking place in Riyadh from Jan. 14 to 16, the South Asian country’s Minister for Petroleum Musadik Malik explained that the two nations are also exploring collaboration prospects in additional sectors including energy, food security, and industrial.
This falls in line with Pakistan seeking to strengthen trade and investment ties with the Kingdom, whose leadership reaffirmed its commitment this year to expedite a $5 billion investment package for the country.
“Well, we are hoping and expecting the year 2025 to be a year of big announcements, particularly between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. As you know, we are in advanced stages of conversations about a very large asset, and we have done all the homework that was needed. We’ve done the commercial due diligence, we’ve done the legal deed due diligence. We’ve done the financial due diligence. Both sides have come up with valuation frameworks,” Malik said.
“In mining, it’s going to be the mining assets, particularly the copper mining assets, copper and gold mining assets. So, we are very hopeful about that,” he added.
The senator said the valuation ranges are in place, and both teams are now empowered to negotiate.
“Right now, we are under non-disclosure, so I can’t give you the details, but suffice to say that we are expecting very big announcements very soon,” Malik said.
“In the industrial areas, as you know, there are about $2 billion worth of commercial MoUs (memorandums of understandings) and contracts already signed between the Saudi companies and Pakistani companies, and many of them have become the actual contracts, and the trade has started. So, that’s a big chunk of commercial activity as well as industrialization activity,” he added.
“We also have ongoing conversations about very large energy projects, in terms of refineries and so on and so forth. So, it depends upon whether it’s food security. We have things going on, whether it’s commercial trade, there are things going on, whether there’s industrial activity and investments there are things going on,” the senator said.
Malik went on to highlight the benefits of the ministerial roundtable held at the Future Minerals Forum, which saw participation from 89 countries.
“I think the most interesting and intriguing part of this ministerial roundtable is that everyone is focused on the future. We’re not just talking about right now. It’s almost like we’re sitting together and writing the history of future. That’s what we are trying to do,” he said.
“We are thinking not just about where the assets are, but we are also thinking about where how these assets are going to create value and we are not only limited to creating value, but we are also thinking about value capture. So, from asset to value creation to value capture, everything is getting discussed, and it’s getting discussed in a manner which ensures sustainability of mining,” he added.
The senator also highlighted the growing focus on sustainable mining, communities, the circular economy, and how resource-rich countries are positioning themselves to participate in downstream activities, capture value, and navigate the geopolitics and emerging industrial policies shaping the future.
“All of those very healthy discussions are taking place right now. But if you talk about the end game, the end game is to ensure that there’s a sustainable world, that the world is carbon neutral,” Malik said.
Saudi firm Manara may invest in Pakistan’s Reko Diq mine — minister
- Executives from Manara visited Pakistan in May last year for talks about buying stake in Reko Diq mine
- Manara is a joint venture between state-controlled miner Ma’aden and $925-billion Public Investment Fund
RIYADH: Saudi Arabian mining company Manara Minerals could invest in Pakistan’s Reko Diq mine in the next two quarters, Pakistani Petroleum Minister Musadik Malik said on Tuesday.
Manara, a joint venture between state-controlled miner Ma’aden and the $925-billion Public Investment Fund (PIF), was set up as part of the kingdom’s efforts to diversify its economy away from oil, including by buying minority stakes in assets overseas.
“I’m very hopeful that in the next quarter or two we will have very big announcements,” Malik said on the sidelines of the Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh, adding they would be copper-related.
“So we’re very hopeful that this year, we will make some big announcements, both in the way of Reko Diq, but hopefully also” in mines around it, he added.
Asked if Manara would be involved, Malik said, “why not, of course.”
Manara did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
Executives from Manara visited Pakistan in May last year for talks about buying a stake in the Reko Diq mine, considered one of the world’s largest underdeveloped cooper-gold areas by global mining company Barrick Gold, which owns the project jointly with Pakistan.
Manara’s then-acting chief executive Robert Wilt, now CEO of Ma’aden, told Reuters that a stake in Reko Diq was among several opportunities the company was evaluating.
Pakistan is also in talks with other Gulf countries about mining opportunities, Malik said.
Indian police arrest 44 men accused of raping teenager over five years
- Case came to light after the girl narrated gang rape to volunteer during a gender awareness program
- There were more than 31,000 reported rapes in 2022 in India, the latest year for which data is available
KOCHI, India: Police in India’s southern state of Kerala have arrested 44 men accused of raping an 18-year-old girl over a period of five years, a police official said on Tuesday, in a case that has shocked the coastal tourist resort.
The victim, an athlete who belongs to the so-called lower caste community known as Dalits, told police in a statement that she was sexually abused by 62 people over a period of five years.
Police have identified 58 of those men, some of whom are minors and arrested 44 over the last two days, officials said.
“We have identified the remaining 14 and they would be arrested soon,” the Deputy Superintendent of Police in the Pathanamthitta district where the crimes took place, PS Nandakumar, told Reuters.
The case came to light after the girl narrated the gang rape to a volunteer during a gender awareness program. Nandkumar, who heads the investigation, said details of how the crimes were committed were still being investigated.
In her statement to the police, the victim said the abuse began when she was 13 after her neighbor allegedly raped her.
Local media reported that four of the accused were minors.
Under Indian law, accused in rape cases that involve lower castes do not immediately get bail. Reuters was not able to reach any of the accused for a comment.
There were more than 31,000 reported rapes in 2022 in India, the latest year for which data is available, and conviction rates are notoriously low.
The rape and murder of a trainee doctor in the eastern city of Kolkata caused outrage across the country last year, with protests and street marches calling for action against the accused.
TikTok calls report of possible sale to Musk’s X ‘pure fiction’
- Rumors circulated Monday that TikTok’s owner, ByteDance, is considering selling the platform’s US operations to Elon Musk’s social media platform, X
- Congress legislation could force TikTok to divest its US operations, requiring its parent company, ByteDance, to either sell the platform or shut it down
NEW YORK: TikTok on Tuesday labeled as “pure fiction” a report that China is exploring a potential sale of the video-sharing platform’s US operations to billionaire Elon Musk as the firm faces an American law requiring imminent Chinese divestment.
Citing anonymous people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg News had earlier reported that Chinese officials were considering selling the company’s US operations to Musk’s social media platform X.
The report outlined one scenario being discussed in Beijing where X would purchase TikTok from Chinese owner ByteDance and combine it with the platform formerly known as Twitter.
“We cannot be expected to comment on pure fiction,” a TikTok spokesperson told AFP.
The report estimated the value of TikTok’s US operations at between $40 billion and $50 billion.
Although Musk is currently ranked as the world’s wealthiest person, Bloomberg said it was not clear how Musk could execute the transaction, or if he would need to sell other assets.
The US Congress passed a law last year that requires ByteDance to either sell its wildly popular platform or shut it down. It goes into effect on Sunday — a day before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
The US government alleges TikTok allows Beijing to collect data and spy on users and is a conduit to spread propaganda. China and ByteDance strongly deny the claims.
TikTok has challenged the law, taking an appeal all the way to the US Supreme Court, which heard oral arguments on Friday.
At the hearing, a majority of the conservative and liberal justices on the nine-member bench appeared skeptical of arguments by a lawyer for TikTok that forcing a sale was a violation of First Amendment free speech rights.
Bloomberg characterized Beijing’s consideration of a possible Musk transaction as “still preliminary,” noting that Chinese officials have yet to reach a consensus on how to proceed.
Musk is a close ally of Trump and is expected to play an influential role in Washington in the coming four years.
He also runs electric car company Tesla, which has a major factory in China and counts the country as one of the automaker’s biggest markets.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to enact new tariffs on Chinese goods, which would expand a trade war begun in his first term and which was largely upheld, and in some cases supplemented, by outgoing President Joe Biden.
