Brokers flee HSBC for Chinese investment banks in Hong Kong

Dozens of former stockbrokers at HSBC have recently found new jobs at two rapidly expanding Chinese investment banks in Hong Kong after they left the British lender over disagreements on salaries.

People familiar with the situation told the about 50 former employees of HSBC's Asian securities unit in the bank's office in the city had signed new offers with BOC International (BOCI), the Hong Kong-based offshore investment banking arm of Bank of China, one of the Big Four state-run lenders headquartered in Beijing.

Meanwhile, more than a dozen of the brokers' former staff had joined the Hong Kong office of China Merchants Securities, said the sources, who declined to be named.

China Merchants has been aggressively grabbing experienced professionals from rival financial institutions in the past year and occupies two floors in Exchange Square in Central.

"[The former HSBC staff] are extremely unhappy with HSBC's decision to suddenly change their income package, and many of them have worked for HSBC for many years, so they are very experienced and know their clients very well," said one of the sources, who was involved in the hiring process for the mainland investment banks.

"In the financial industry, it's all about money. It's just that simple."

Late last year, HSBC announced internally that it would review its remuneration system for its Hong Kong-based brokers. The system went into effect early this year.