HSBC is considering selling parts of its U.S. real estate portfolio to accelerate the run-down of the business, and said it expects to sell a small part by the end of June.

HSBC, Europe's biggest bank, is identifying parts of its real estate portfolio to sell, aimed at reducing risk or the burden of holding the assets, Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver told analysts during a strategy presentation.

He said there were now signs investors were interested in buying some assets, and the first sale would test this.

HSBC has been running down its U.S. consumer finance book since 2008. It had $44 billion of real estate assets and $5 billion of non-real estate assets at the end of 2011.

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