{"text":[[{"start":9.64,"text":"HSBC is ending its $38,000 school fee subsidy for new hires in Hong Kong, phasing out a longstanding perk that the UK bank had used to attract senior staff to the Asian financial hub."}],[{"start":21.357,"text":"Locally hired employees and those transferred from elsewhere would not be eligible for a subsidy to cover their children’s school fees, the bank’s Asia co-heads told staff in a memo on Thursday, according to an HSBC spokesperson."}],[{"start":35.5,"text":"Existing staff at the director level and above who currently receive the perk — which is capped at HK$300,000 ($38,000) a year — as well as those with a child born this year will still benefit, according to a person familiar with the change, which was first reported by Bloomberg."}],[{"start":50.873,"text":"Phasing out the perk in a city where many expatriates send their children to private international schools is the latest cost-cutting move by chief executive Georges Elhedery, who has sought to boost the bank’s competitiveness."}],[{"start":65.12,"text":"Since taking over in 2024, he has embarked on a restructuring that includes shutting HSBC’s equity capital markets division, folding its merger and acquisition advisory business in the US and Europe, and pulling out of some markets entirely."}],[{"start":78.757,"text":"The FT reported last year that the bank quietly ended its 160-year-old international manager programme, a scheme set up to develop the next generation of HSBC executives that counts former bank boss Stuart Gulliver as an alumnus."}],[{"start":94.4,"text":"The end of the fee incentive comes as HSBC continues to digest its $14bn take-private of Hong Kong lender Hang Seng, whose equivalent senior employees do not receive such a perk. London-based employees also do not receive the subsidy."}],[{"start":109.511,"text":"Fees for some of Hong Kong’s most prestigious secondary schools are notoriously high. Annual tuition at the American School is HK$242,700 ($31,000) for years 11 to 12, while the Chinese International School lists annual tuition fees of more than HK$350,000 for its final years."}],[{"start":131.27,"text":"“We are focused on rewarding our employees fairly and competitively,” said a spokesperson for HSBC. “Employees in Hong Kong have access to a broad and market-competitive total reward package.”"}],[{"start":150.38,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1789629521_9453.mp3"}