AP Govt. rubbishes Lokesh's claim on closure of HSBC in Vizag

Visakhapatnam A tweet made by Telugu Desam Party MLC and general secretary Nara Lokesh on the decision to shutdown HSBC campus in Visakhapatnam has been rubbished by the State Government-led by Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.

Lokesh, son of former Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition N. Chandrababu Naidu tweeted that due to policies of the YSR Congress Party Government, several firms were winding up their operations. HSBC was set up in the city long ago after the site at a prime location was allotted by the government at a concessional rate to provide jobs to the locals.

Refuting his claim, AP Fact Check, an initiative launched by the YSRCP Government said HSBC had decided to scale down its operations across India in 2016 itself. It said: HSBC Visakhapatnam Branch is not closing because of the AP Government. HSBC is moving to BaaS (Banking as a Service).

Sources said the UK-based financial company is reducing its retail outlets in India as well as other countries as part of BaaS. Further, due to the impact of the pandemic, it wants to adopt cost-cutting measures.

The banking major has decided to wind up most of the branches and scale down its operations in a few cities across India. The YSRCP Government said the allegation that the bank is closing its operation due to the present government is not true. Fact Check has been initiated by the government to debunk the propaganda by certain media publications and the Opposition parties against the YSRCP.

HSBC has gone on record saying that it is repositioning US retail business towards international banking and wealth management by adopting BaaS model.