*UK-based bank and financial services group HSBC Holdings has announced plans to sell its business in Argentina to local private financial group Grupo Financiero Galicia for US$550m, along with a US$1bn pre-tax loss on the sale. In a statement, HSBC Group CEO Noel Quinn stated that HSBC Argentina was largely “a domestically focused business, with limited connectivity to the rest of our international network”. Quinn added that HSBC Argentina also generated “substantial earnings volatility for the Group when its results are translated into US dollars”, saying that Galicia would be “better placed to invest in and grow the business”. The decision to exit Argentina comes as the country continues to grapple with its worst economic crisis in decades.
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