HSBC Abandons Wholesale, Third-Party Lending

HSBC Mortgage Corp., Depew, N.Y. in an internal memo Tuesday said it is officially ceasing originations through its wholesale and third party correspondent channels, and 325 of the corporation's 1,500 employees will lose their current jobs as a result, according to a spokeswoman. Mortgages in these categories registered as of Nov. 18 will be processed and floating wholesale and correspondent loans registered on that date must be locked by Dec. 2, according to the memo. Mortgages from these channels will have until Jan. 20, 2009 to fund and the corporation will not fund any wholesale or correspondent loans after Jan. 21, 2009. One hundred account executives nationwide and 225 mortgage lending specialists and support personnel in Depew will face cuts, the spokeswoman said. However, the majority of the 1,100 positions in Depew remain intact and an undetermined number of internal placements may be made. Affected employees have received 60 days notice and are to be individually informed about severance and benefits. The move comes a little more than a year after the corporation's European-owned corporate parent shut down the Decision One subprime wholesale unit operated by its HSBC Finance arm and said it would be working to refocus its mortgage business on the direct-to-consumer retail origination channel.