HSBC has unveiled a sweeping overhaul of its bank separating its UK division from its Asia business amid growing geopolitical tensions between China and the West.

The lender on Tuesday announced that it will be “simplifying” its geographical governance structure, splitting its business into eastern and western markets.

Under the plans, which are being spearheaded by HSBC’s new chief executive Georges Elhedery, eastern markets will contain the Asia-Pacific region and the Middle East while western markets will contain its UK and continental European and Americas businesses.

It is the first major shake-up by Mr Elhedery, who was appointed in July and is HSBC’s first Mandarin-speaking chief executive.

The bank will also restructure its operations into four distinct business lines: Hong Kong; UK; corporate and institutional banking; and international wealth and premier banking.

The move will see HSBC consolidate its commercial banking operations, excluding the UK and Hong Kong, with its global banking and markets business.

The changes take effect from Jan 1 2025, with further details to be released in HSBC’s full year results.

It comes amid growing pressure on the bank to move its headquarters to China and growing criticism of its treatment of Hong Kong dissidents.

Last year, HSBC fended off a shareholder rebellion from Chinese insurer Ping An, its largest shareholder, who demanded the bank split off its western business and focus on China.

The £120bn lender has also come under pressure from investors who argued that too much focus remained on London and the bank should relocate its headquarters to Asia.

Meanwhile, it has been under fire after supporting a Beijing-backed authoritarian crackdown in Hong Kong in 2020 which banned all anti-government activity.

The bank argued at the time that it “supports all laws that stabilise Hong Kong’s social order”. Since the rule was introduced it has frozen the bank accounts of various activists.

Mr Elhedery said: “The new structure will result in a simpler, more dynamic, and agile organisation as we focus on executing against our strategic priorities, which remain unchanged.

“By making these changes, we can better focus on increasing leadership and market share in those businesses which have clear competitive advantage and the greatest opportunities to grow.”

The overhaul follows reports that Mr Elhedery was considering cost cutting measures which could save up to $300m (£231m) by reducing top management layers.

HSBC, which employs about 214,000 people globally, has been stripping out duplicated roles for years to streamline management and lower costs.

On Tuesday the bank also named Pam Kaur, currently chief risk and compliance officer, as its first ever female finance chief.