British bank HSBC made some progress yesterday in shrinking its consumer loan portfolio in the United States, which has been a drag on its earnings, the New York DealBook blog reported yesterday. HSBC agreed to sell a portfolio of personal unsecured loans and mortgages to Springleaf Finance and the Newcastle Investment Corp. for $3.2 billion in cash. HSBC also said that it was selling Springleaf its loan servicing facility in London, Ky.
