The bank is "in the process of running down part of our book in the U.S. and Europe and reinvesting those saved risk-weighted assets into Asia," HSBC CEO Noel Quinn said. ➤ Corporate America not likely to unwind COVID-19 debt buildup despite credit hits Despite piling on debt to cover revenue shortfalls caused by COVID-19 and record numbers of credit rating downgrades in 2020, U.S. companies have different priorities for their cash stockpiles than deleveraging. ➤ ESG hits the mainstream for European private equity sponsors To date, all of the ESG-linked financings completed in the European leveraged loan space have been private equity-backed. Some observers think ESG-linked pricing ratchets could become a market convention, over time. BANKING * A San Francisco resident filed a lawsuit against Bank of America Corp. over lack of protections for holders of Employment Development Department debit cards, ABC10 reported.