By Stefania Spezzati and Iain Withers
LONDON (Reuters) -HSBC plans to step up surveillance of employees and buildings by including extra cameras and biometric entry to its premises globally, inside paperwork seen by Reuters present, a transfer that comes amid rising issues about firms’ intensive monitoring of staff.
As a part of its “international safety technique”, the financial institution plans a four-fold enhance within the variety of cameras at its new constructing within the Metropolis of London, a website about half the dimensions of its present workplace in Canary Wharf, an inside presentation by the financial institution’s protecting safety staff dated Could 2025, seen by Reuters, exhibits. Based on the presentation, the brand new London constructing is predicted to have an estimated 1,754 cameras, up from about 444 gadgets put in in its present international headquarters in Canary Wharf in London.
It additionally plans to double its biometric readers to entry the brand new constructing to 779 from 350.
Underneath the plan, reported right here for the primary time, entry to HSBC’s top-tier buildings, together with in Britain and the U.S., ought to be based mostly on biometric verification, together with full-hand recognition.
Entry can be “digital”, with workers anticipated to make use of their very own cell phones to badge in, the presentation doc exhibits.
HSBC, Europe’s largest financial institution by belongings, employs greater than 210,000 individuals globally, together with greater than 31,000 throughout the UK.
Most workers are anticipated to make use of private cell phones with a firm-installed software program on them to achieve entry. This has met with some resistance from employees, an individual with information of the insurance policies stated.
As of the top of final yr, many of the UK employees had but to stick to the biometric and digital entry coverage which the financial institution began to implement in 2022, partially due to opposition, in accordance with the particular person.
“The protection and safety of our individuals is on the forefront of every part HSBC does,” an HSBC consultant instructed Reuters.
“We commonly danger assess each constructing and dependant on the recognized danger and vulnerabilities, we proceed to put money into the most recent cutting-edge expertise to safeguard our colleagues, prospects and guests in step with trade requirements,” the financial institution added.
Corporations have elevated surveillance of employees amid a shift to hybrid working, whereas advances in expertise enable for extra subtle controls.
Banks particularly have stepped up monitoring to make sure the elements of their companies which might be closely regulated adjust to conduct guidelines. Nationwide privateness legal guidelines decide what firms can monitor.
The intensive surveillance enabled by new applied sciences is elevating issues about dangers to staff’ rights and wellbeing, in accordance with a Could report by the Institute for Public Coverage Analysis, a London-based assume tank.
In July, HSBC requested that senior employees globally report back to the workplace a minimum of 4 days per week, ranging from October, a financial institution spokesperson stated. Beforehand, the financial institution had no international coverage on the matter, with approaches various relying on the nation, they stated.
As calls for for workplace house develop once more, the financial institution has determined so as to add to its deliberate Metropolis of London HQ, with a brand new smaller presence in Canary Wharf, Reuters reported.
The paperwork seen by Reuters don’t embrace references to the brand new Canary Wharf workplace house.
The financial institution’s safety challenge is overseen by Diane Marchena, international head of protecting safety, who reviews to Chief Working Officer Suzy White, the particular person with information of the matter stated.
Marchena and White declined to remark for this text.
ISRAELI SURVEILLANCE TOOLS
HSBC has been working with Israeli agency Octopus since a minimum of 2024, adopting a few of its instruments for surveillance within the UK and Hong Kong and is planning extra rollouts for monitoring, different paperwork outlining HSBC’s international technique seen by Reuters present.
HSBC plans the deployment of Octopus instruments in different nations equivalent to India and Mexico this yr, the paperwork, that are undated, present.
Israel is among the world’s main exporters of surveillance. Octopus says it sells its instruments to consumers in 28 nations. Its expertise has been reportedly utilized by entities, together with the Israeli authorities to observe some Israeli cities and a European Union-funded refugee camp on the Greek island of Samos.
A consultant for Octopus didn’t take Reuters calls in search of remark and the corporate didn’t reply to a Reuters e mail in search of remark.
An HSBC spokesperson stated the financial institution doesn’t touch upon distributors or suppliers.
TRADING FLOORS
In HSBC’s new London constructing, the elevated video surveillance will embrace cameras at entry and exit factors of buying and selling flooring, the Could 2025 presentation exhibits, and the usage of synthetic intelligence analytics.
HSBC’s funds for the preliminary rollout of the brand new London constructing surveillance was just lately tripled to about $15 million, the particular person accustomed to the matter stated.
Based on the presentation, “theft incidents” in its Canary Wharf constructing “level to the necessity for elevated CCTV capabilities on working flooring,” and that current “crime information” confirmed a rise of incidents, together with housebreaking, inside a one-mile radius of the brand new workplace.
The particular person accustomed to the matter stated that theft occasions on HSBC premises have been principally minor.
(Reporting by Stefania Spezzati and Iain Withers; modifying by Elisa Martinuzzi and Jane Merriman)
