HSBC promotes CFO Elhedery to chief executive, replacing Quinn who retires in September
- Elhedery, 50, previously held the role of co-CEO of HSBC’s global banking and markets division before being appointed as the CFO in January 2023
HSBC, the largest lender in Europe and Hong Kong, has promoted its chief financial officer (CFO) Georges Elhedery as chief executive to replace Noel Quinn, who retires on September 1.
Elhedery, 50, joined the London-based bank in 2005, according to a biography on the bank’s website. He previously held the role of co-CEO of HSBC’s global banking and markets division before being appointed as the CFO in January 2023.
Elhedery said he was “deeply honoured” to be taking up the role. He will continue in the role of CFO during the transition period.
“Working together with our talented team, I look forward to delivering exceptional value to our clients and investors by driving strong performance on a sustainable growth trajectory,” he said in a statement.
The appointment of an internal candidate was widely expected, according Nick Lord, an analyst at Morgan Stanley.
“We do not expect a material share price reaction, and this announcement will remove one source of uncertainty for the stock, in our view,” he said.
The appointment suggests a continuity of HSBC’s strategy after a largely completed major overhaul, according to Tomasz Noetzel at Bloomberg Intelligence. The bank will have to focus on finding new levers to grow the revenue base and bolster growth in Asia, ahead of inevitable interest rate cuts and unsupportive US-China tensions, he added.
Quinn will work closely with Elhedery to hand over responsibilities until he officially steps down as group CEO and executive director in September. The bank added that Quinn will remain available to the group until his lengthy gardening leave period ends on April 30 2025.
“I’m pleased with our start to 2024,” Quinn said after announcing the bank’s second-highest quarterly profit in five years. “We completed the sale of our Canada business and agreed the sale of our Argentina business, both of which allow us to focus on markets with higher value international opportunities.”
HSBC, which traces its roots to Hong Kong and Shanghai nearly two centuries ago, generates much of its revenue in Asia.
“The costs removed from 2020 to 2022 put HSBC in a better position to generate ROE [return on equity] at or above its cost of capital,” said Michael Makdad, an analyst at Morningstar.
“The market will presumably be keen to see if Elhedery takes a different stance than Quinn on the need for further geographical divestitures,” he added.
HSBC will announce its interim results for 2024 on July 31.
Additional reporting by Enoch Yiu and Shidong Zhang
