View of the building of the Headquarters of HSBC bank in Canary Wharf in London, 28 August 2012. [Photo: Imagine China]

European banking giant HSBC is planning to fire around 22-thousand to 25-thousand employees in an effort to cut costs by 4.5 to 5 billion U.S. dollars by 2017.

It is about ten percent of the bank's staff globally.

The bank also intends to sell its operations in Turkey and Brazil.

It is also targeting a reduction of Group Risk Weighted Assets (RWAs) of about 290 billion U.S. dollars.

Meanwhile, HSBC is planning to accelerate investments in Asia by developing its business in both the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong Province of China, and in the ASEAN region.

The bank will also complete a headquarters review by the end of this year.

The bank's headquarters is now located in London.