BIRMINGHAM, England, May 5 Reuters HSBC is expected on Friday to defeat a proposal by Hong Kongbased investors, backed by its biggest Asian investor Ping An, which calls for the lender to consider spinning off its Asia business.

Investors will vote on the resolutions at the bank39;s annual general meeting on Friday, but Ping An and its supporters face an uphill battle to secure the 75 of votes cast needed to pass the special resolutions.

Those proposed by individual investor Ken Lui and supported by Ping An call on HSBC to boost dividend payouts, and to regularly review strategy including the possibility of carving out the Asia business that generates most of the bank39;s profit.

HSBC has asked investors to vote against the proposals, saying they would destroy shareholder value, and so far no other big institutional investors have signalled they are in favour.

On the contrary, Norway39;s state investment fund, HSBC39;s 4th biggest investor, has said it will back the bank39;s board and advisory firms including Glass Lewis and ISS which recommend how investors wield proxy votes, have urged support for the bank.

Lui told CNBC News in an interview broadcast ahead of the meeting that he had emailed all of HSBC39;s top 50 investors and eight had replied, who he had met either over video calls or in person to discuss his resolutions.

Lui said he was only able to disclose he had met with Ping An and that they were supportive. When he submitted the resolutions he was very…