HSBC's new management team is shifting the company's focus from high street to commercial and investment banking as part of an attempt to save $3.5 billion (£2.14 billion). The bank is also increasingly targetting emerging economies, which it forecasts will constitute a growing proportion of its business in the future.

Each of its operations is being evaluated according to a five-point test that will examine the value of individual deparments to the business as a whole, with the bank also seeking to relocate capital in developing economies likely to experience growth over the coming years. The five tests will grade the future economic potential, relevance to connectivity, profitability, efficiency and liquidity of the bank's individual operations, with those that do not score highly enough facing the cull. Such news means that high street branches in the UK which are not deemed profitable enough face closure.

In addition, management is looking to increase its return on equity from around 9.5 per cent in 2010 to between 12 and 15 per cent annually. After first quarter figures released this week showed that the bank's cost-income ratio had reached 60 per cent, savings are also seeking to bring this fraction down to between 48 and 52 per cent. In February the bank announced that last year's pre-tax profits had more than doubled compared to 2009 figures, reaching $19 billion (£11.8 billion) in 2010.

Explaining the motives behind the announcement of a shift in focus, chief executive Stuart Gulliver said that "by 2050, 19 of the world's largest 30 economies will be from what are currently termed emerging markets." He added that the objective of the reshuffle was not about "shrinking the business but about creating capacity to re-invest in growth markets and to provide a buffer against regulatory and inflationary headwinds."