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HSBC on Tuesday named veteran insider Pam Kaur as its first female finance chief and announced a major overhaul comprising a new geographic setup and four consolidated business units.
Kaur is set to assume her post on Jan. 1, according to regulatory filings with the Hong Kong bourse, taking over from interim Chief Financial Officer Jon Bingham.
This is the second heavyweight leadership shakeup for HSBC in recent months, after former finance boss Georges Elhedery was named CEO of the group back in July.
In a fresh overhaul, the bank plans to divide its operations between an “Eastern markets” branch, reuniting Asia-Pacific and the Middle East, along with a “Western markets” division, comprising the non-ringed-fenced U.K. bank, the continental European business and the Americas.
Chinese insurer Ping An, HSBC’s largest shareholder with a more-than-9% stake, has previously campaigned for the spinoff of HSBC’s Asian business from the rest of the group’s operations — although this was ultimately rejected during the bank’s annual general meeting last year.
The bank on Tuesday also announced plans to streamline its businesses in a bid to “reduce the duplication of processes and decision making.” From January, it will operate through four divisions: Hong Kong, U.K., international wealth and premier banking, and corporate and institutional banking.
“The new structure will result in a simpler, more dynamic, and agile organisation as we focus on executing against our strategic priorities, which remain unchanged,” Elhedery said Tuesday in a statement, adding that the shakeup will help propel HSBC in its “next phase of growth.”
The bank’s new corporate and institutional banking unit will bring together its commercial banking business (outside of Hong Kong and the U.K.), global banking and markets business, and Western markets wholesale banking operations.
Like many European lenders, HSBC has benefitted from a high interest rate environment since the Covid-19 pandemic, but now faces the loss of that support after the European Central Bank started loosening monetary policy in June.
Earlier this month, the Financial Times reported that Elhedery was targeting the bank’s senior management as part of cost-cutting restructuring plans that could save as much as $300 million.
Back in July, HSBC posted estimates-beating pretax profit of $21.56 billion in the first half of the year, announcing a share buyback program of up to $3 billion. The bank is set to report its third-quarter results on Oct. 29.
U.K.-listed shares of HSBC are up 6.28% over the year to date.