The Financial Post reports in its Wednesday edition that unnamed sources say potential bidders for HSBC Holdings' money-losing Brazil unit are demanding price cuts as they tally the costs of firing workers. A Bloomberg dispatch to the Post reports that the bank's dental-hygiene memos to employees are not helping either. With a staff of 20,488 in Brazil as of December, HSBC has a higher worker-to-asset ratio than all of the nation's non-government-owned banks. That figure will have to drop after a merger, say sources, leaving any future buyer grappling with Brazil's costly labour-protection laws. Rumour has Bank of Nova Scotia interested in the operation. Adding to those expenses are lawsuits from unions that say HSBC got a little too involved in workers' personal lives, including one class-action case filed by unions and a separate one from prosecutors. "Employees must take showers and brush their teeth," HSBC reminded its staff in internal memos, one of the cases alleges, says Elias Jordao, the president of the bank workers' union in Curitiba, which is involved in cases against HSBC. HSBC has set aside almost $240-million to cover labour claims, a sum that potential bidders are concerned will not be enough.