Commenting on HSBC’s troubled Household Finance unit in the U.S., HSBC Chief Executive Geoghegan said on Tuesday that as the group discontinues writing new business and runs off the consumer lending operations, it expects to see elevated loan impairment charges over the next two years.

He said the time and cost of the run-off remain dependent on macro-economic factors such as rises in unemployment and further falls in house prices.

HSBC will retain the credit card business, but Geoghegan said that “it is clear that this business will have a difficult two years as the U.S. economy contracts.”

He added that so far this business is proving more robust, but that if headwinds such as macro-economic factors and regulatory pressure become too strong, and the bank isn’t able to leverage this business, “we may have to rethink it.

“But in the meantime, we believe, that unless there is further significant deterioration, the assets in this business can ride out the storm,” he concluded.

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