LONDON-- HSBC Holdings PLC said Friday it was reviewing whether to move its headquarters outside the U.K.

The lender, which has large Asian operations but is based in London, said that it didn't know when a final decision would be made.

HSBC's management has long wrestled with whether the bank should be domiciled in the U.K. and in the past it conducted reviews of whether to relocate every three years. This stopped during the financial crisis as the bank waited for the regulatory rules to settle down.

"As part of the broader strategic review taking place, the board has therefore now asked management to commence work to look at where the best place is for HSBC to be headquartered in this new environment," Chairman Douglas Flint said in a copy of a speech he is set to deliver at the bank's annual shareholder meeting later Friday.

Write to Max Colchester at max.colchester@wsj.com

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