HSBC to return headquarters to Asia

Movement from London to Hong Kong will enable the lender to concentrate on Asian markets.

HSBC recently announced that its CEO Michael Geoghegan will relocate its headquarters to Hong Kong in February.

"Our group is pursuing such a move to keep up with the gradual shift in the world's center of economic gravity from the West to the East," the HSBC Group said in a press release.

HSBC tried to expand its presence in Korea by acquiring Korea Exchange Bank last year, but failed as the financial watchdog did not approve the deal as the latter was facing a legal dispute, according to a report in Korea Times.

HSBC was founded in Hong Kong and Shanghai in 1865, but moved its headquarters to London after acquiring the Midland Bank in 1992.