(Bloomberg) -- BNP Paribas SA plans to move the majority of its Hong Kong staff out of offices in the city’s central business district as the lender looks to cut costs and adjust to the post-Covid era, according to people familiar with the matter.
The French lender is weighing shifting nearly all of its staff in Two International Finance Centre, a prestigious complex in a coveted location, to offices in Taikoo Place on the east side of Hong Kong island, the people said. The move is set to happen as soon as next year, and some bankers may stay behind in the Central building, the people said.
BNP Paribas’ asset management business is already based in Lincoln House of Taikoo Place, according to its website. It currently has four floors in Two IFC, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private.
“The Hong Kong financial industry has entered a new phase of workspace transformation, and we have reassessed our operations post pandemic and taken the opportunity to shift to a more dynamic smart workspace which allows greater collaboration and mobility,” a spokeswoman for BNP Paribas said in response to a Bloomberg News query.
The move comes as financial institutions are looking to trim costs by cutting staff globally amid persistent inflation and a slowdown in dealmaking. Citigroup Inc. is set to join Wall Street rivals JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in cutting jobs, Bloomberg News has reported.
A rise in Hong Kong’s office vacancy rates and falling rents during the pandemic has weighed on the city’s premier properties. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. moved from billionaire Li Ka-shing’s skyscraper in Hong Kong’s Central district to Two IFC in December. The building is also home to the regional offices of financial firms including UBS Group AG.
Comprising 4.5 million square feet, International Finance Centre features more than 200 stores and office space as well as a Four Seasons hotel, its website shows. The complex is a collaboration between developers Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd. and Henderson Land Development Co. and utility company Hong Kong & China Gas Co., according to the website.
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