HSBC France said that it will acquire the operations of seven of its parent HSBC Bank’s European branches amid continued political and regulatory changes in Europe.

HSBC France said that the acquisitions are part of a move to support its pan-European proposition to customers.

In this regard, it will take over the operations of HSBC Bank in Belgium, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Spain.

The acquisition, which will involve branches, operations and subsidiaries, is anticipated to be closed during the first quarter of 2019.

The HSBC businesses, that are part of the change of ownership, currently cater to global banking and markets and commercial banking customers. Especially, HSBC businesses in Ireland and Luxembourg offer securities services to fund and corporate customers.

HSBC France said that the changes have been and will be given approvals by the appropriate supervisory authorities and the relevant boards of directors.

The bank revealed that all entities and activities acquired and to be acquired registered $203m (€168m) in combined profit before tax in 2017. Put together, the seven subsidiaries had shown a total balance sheet of $15.1bn (€13.0bn) at the end of 2017.

HSBC France, which is owned 99.99% by HSBC Bank, said that the restructuring which is internal to the latter, will not impact its capital ratios.

Earlier this month, HSBC France acquired two European subsidiaries – HSBC Polska Bank in Poland and HSBC Institutional Trust Services (Ireland) DAC in Ireland, which are direct and indirect subsidiaries of HSBC Bank respectively.

The acquisitions were disclosed during the announcement of the interim results 2018 of HSBC France.

The bank reported consolidated profit before tax of €10m for the first half of 2018, in comparison to the €196m reported in the first half of 2017. Its reported net operating income came down to €903m in H1 2018 compared to €1.03bn earned in the first half of 2017.

HSBC France said that the H1 2018 result is particularly impacted by low revenues in fixed income activities amid the backdrop of strong variation in volatility levels and low liquidity in Euro rates markets.

It also added that the half year results also demonstrated the affect of ongoing low interest rates on the profitability of retail banking across France.