Russia holdout HSBC has cut references to a 'war' in Ukraine from its analyst research reports, the FT says

• HSBC has edited research reports to remove references to Russia's attack as a war, the Financial Times reported.
• The bank has kept its business in Russia open, resisting pressure to follow its rivals and close operations.

HSBC has cut references to a "war" in Ukraine from its analysts' research reports, the Financial Times reported on Monday, as the bank comes under pressure to exit Russia.

Committees at the bank have edited several research publications to soften the language used on the topic, the FT report said, citing two people with direct knowledge of the matter.

The committees, which review research reports published outside HSBC, changed the word "war" to "conflict", it said.

Russia has refused to use the word "war" to describe the country's invasion of its neighbor, now in its second month. Instead, its officials call it a "special military operation" to protect people against crimes such as genocide.

HSBC has come under pressure to fully exit Russia, from UK lawmakers and elsewhere. The bank has stopped taking on new business there, and it has implemented measures in response to Western sanctions.

Wall Street banks including Goldman Sachs, and JPMorgan Chase have pledged to wind down their Russia-based operations.

HSBC's research department is independent of the HSBC banking group, whose Russian subsidiary contributes a small part of its business. The company declined to comment when contacted by Insider.

Other institutions, such as Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank, have explicitly described the conflict as a "war" in their research publications, the FT noted. And HSBC itself has used the term in some reports, including in a March 25 note on inflation.

The amendments have prompted debate and pushback among employees at HSBC, which has been more open internally to using the word, according to the FT. The company declined to comment when contacted by Insider.

The Ukraine situation is a sensitive matter for HSBC, given it still has around 200 employees in Russia.

Russia has clamped down on discussion around the conflict, and it has introduced a strict law against spreading what the government views as misinformation by using words such as "war" and "invasion", with possible prison terms of up to 15 years.