UK based banking major HSBC has revealed closure of its Islamic retail banking operations in six geographies including in the UK, the UAE, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Singapore and Mauritius.
The move leaves the bank with a footprint in Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia, marking it as a part of strategy to reinvent its network as a corporate banking franchise worldwide, as reported by Financial Times.
HSBC has already scaled down its retail banking operations from nearly 20 markets, as a part of banking overhaul process to concentrate on core banking operations.
Ernst & Young data reveals that Islamic banking assets will touch to $1.1 trillion by the end of this year, which was only $800bn two years ago.
Recently, Barclays and Deutsche Bank have also cut down on their Islamic operations in Dubai.