HSBC Bank USA Selling 195 Branches To First Niagara Bank

HSBC Bank USA, a subsidiary of British banking company HSBC Holdings PLC, operates more than 470 bank branches in the U.S., including about 370 in New York.  The sale involves 183 branches in upstate New York, four in Westchester County, N.Y, two in Putnam County, N.Y., and six in southern Connecticut.

HSBC to sell 195 NY bank branches for $1 billion - Yahoo! Finance

The move is part of HSBC's strategy, presented to investors in May, to shift focus away from retail banking to commercial and corporate banking, and to target investment in high-growth economies.  HSBC, which is still dealing with the legacy of bad loans in the U.S. from the 2003 acquisition of consumer lender Household International Inc., announced at the time that it intended to trim its costs by up to $3.5 billion within three years.