The U.K. financial services industry took a second heavy hit this week.
HSBC Holdings said Tuesday its plans to cut 1,700 jobs in the U.K. The announcement comes a day after the Royal Bank of Scotland said it will slash 3,700 jobs across the country's branch network.
The U.K. banking group said the biggest cuts will come from its collections and credit-card operations as the group looks to consolidate those offices. The nine offices in the country will be reduced to two sites in Birgmingham. Additional losses will affect the back office staff that oversees the bank's network of branches.
While the bank looks to aggressively expand its reach in Asia, this is the third round of major job cuts for the bank since December of last year. The bank reduced headcount by 1,200 in March and 500 last December.
"Decisions that affect our people are always difficult, but this restructure is an essential part of the streamlining of our business and the migration of activities into centers of excellence around the country," HSBC U.K. Chief Executive Paul Thurston told The Wall Street Journal.