HSBC currently employs around 238,000 people, however, according to the Financial Times, staff reductions are long overdue.

An unnamed source has said: “We’ve known for years that we need to do something about our cost base, the largest component of which is people - now we are finally grasping the nettle.”

The cost-cutting initiative is a measure brought in by the bank’s new interim chief executive, Noel Quinn, who replaced John Flint in August.

Following Quinn’s ascension, HSBC said that it needed to make a change at the top to address a “challenging global environment”.

There are few details as yet as to where the cuts will be made and HSBC has refused to issue an official comment on the matter.

However, reported comments suggest that the focus will be on high-paid jobs and management roles rather than the numerous back-office and IT roles.

It has also been suggested that there will be more job losses in Europe rather than Asia where growth is still in double digits despite the ongoing threat of a US-China trade war and civil unrest in Hong Kong, its main Asian market.

HSBC has previously announced similar plans, In 2011, the new chief executive of the time, John Gulliver, spoke of cutting 30,000 jobs over three years in order to save $3.5 billion in costs.

Earlier in 2019, HSBC announced plans to cut 4,700 jobs. It is believed that the latest round of cuts will come on top of this figure.

An official announcement is expected to be made after the bank announces its third-quarter results later this month.

HSBC is not alone in facing cost pressure and planning to reduce headcount. Barclays, Deutsche Bank, Citigroup and Societe Generale have all made similar moves this year.