by Sinead Cruise, Lawrence White and Selena Li

LONDON/HONG KONG (Reuters) – HSBC has “fundamentally failed to address key challenges to its business model”, its largest shareholder said on Tuesday, marking a further deterioration in relations between the British bank and Chinese insurer Ping An. .

HSBC must spin off its Asia business into a Hong Kong-listed subsidiary, Ping An urged again in an update to its claims it first submitted last November.

The new attack by the Chinese insurer, which owns 8% of HSBC, comes as shareholder advisory group Glass Lewis on Monday urged investors to vote against two resolutions calling for a strategic review and an overhaul of the dividend policy filed. by a Hong Kong-based individual investor, Ken Lui, and backed by Ping An.

The British bank is holding its annual general meeting on May 5.

According to Glass Lewis, the resolution on a strategic review “is not in the interests of shareholders”.

Ken Lui also asks in another resolution to restore a dividend of 0.51 dollars per share and to provide a regular update of the strategy, including the possibility of splitting the activities in Asia.

“We believe, based on third-party financial and legal advice, and with third-party assurances, that the alternative structural options will not enhance shareholder value,” an HSBC spokesperson said Tuesday. .

The dissension between HSBC shareholders reflects the deep differences of opinion on the future of the bank, which is engaged in a major restructuring after having struggled in recent years to achieve its long-term objectives.

(Sinead Cruise and Lawrence White report in London, Selena Li in Hong Kong, Blandine Hénault for the , edited by Bertrand Boucey)

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