HSBC’s Return-to-Office Push Risks Denting CEO’s Savings Plan

HSBC Holdings Plc is forecasting hundreds of millions in extra real estate costs as it considers asking more of its employees to return to the office, potentially hindering the bank in its bid to find $1.5 billion in annual cost savings.

Chief Executive Officer Georges Elhedery will have to make a series of decisions in the coming weeks over whether to acquire more desk space for the lender’s staff in London, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Guangzhou, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be identified discussing internal deliberations. Securing the required space to support a return to three days a week in those cities would cost around $200 million a year, one of the people said.