HSBC transferred fixed-income securities worth £1.76 billion ($2.64 billion) to its U.K. defined benefit pension fund in June in lieu of a cash contribution, according to a semiannual report.
The government, agency and corporate bonds, as well as asset-backed and auction-rate securities, were assets on the bank's balance sheet before the contribution, confirmed HSBC spokesman Paul Harris. They replaced planned cash contributions of about £2 billion through 2015; no further contributions are expected under the new funding plan until 2016, according to the report.
The $17.7 billion pension fund had a funding gap of $3.8 billion as of Dec. 31. The contribution, along with rising asset values, narrowed that gap to $495 million as of June 30, the company said.
