Strategy mistakes a key reason for HSBC's Brazil exit

Sao Paulo

BRAZIL simply proved too tough for "the World's Local Bank". Executives at HSBC Holdings plc's Brazilian unit put relationships with corporate clients before profitability, kept branches overstaffed and failed to protect profits from a deteriorating economy, analysts and investors say.

Strategy missteps coupled with rising competition turned the unit into a problem for London-based HSBC. Now, the moment of reckoning has come.