HSBC jumps most since '11 after report of retail spinoff plan

[HONG KONG] HSBC Holdings's shares jumped the most since 2011 in Hong Kong after a newspaper reported that the lender may spin off its UK retail bank and executives earlier pledged to review the company's domicile.

Shares of HSBC, Europe's largest bank, rose as much as 6 per cent, the biggest intraday gain since Dec 1, 2011, to HK$78.25. The stock was up 5.8 per cent as of 10:16 a.m. local time. The benchmark Hang Seng Index gained 1.6 per cent.

HSBC is considering spinning off the retail bank for about 20 billion pounds (US$30 billion), the Sunday Times newspaper in UK reported, without saying where it got the information. Chairman Douglas Flint said Friday that the lender would consider moving from the UK, where a bank levy cost the firm 750 million pounds last year, more than any other lender.

A spinoff would recreate Midland Bank, which HSBC bought in 1992, although a deal isn't imminent, the London-based Sunday Times said.

BLOOMBERG