HSBC Aims To Pick Its Successor For CEO Quinn By July

(Bloomberg) -- HSBC Holdings Plc is pushing to wrap up the search for a chief executive officer in the coming weeks, with the bank edging toward appointing its next boss from within its own ranks.

The London-headquartered bank could announce a successor for outgoing CEO Noel Quinn ahead of half-year results at the end of July, according to people familiar with the process. The bank is weighing internal candidates, including Chief Financial Officer Georges Elhedery and global wealth and personal banking head Nuno Matos, against external candidates as part of a benchmarking process, said the people, who asked not to be named given the sensitivity. 

“HSBC is conducting a robust and rigorous process to find its next group chief executive,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “This process will consider internal and external candidates. We will update the market as appropriate.”

When Quinn announced his surprise exit in April, Chairman Mark Tucker said HSBC would conclude the search for a successor in the second half of the year at the latest. 

The bank wants to avoid a repeat of last time, when it took more than six months to replace CEO John Flint after Tucker ousted him in mid-2019.

Tucker had been keen to appoint an outsider to run HSBC. The company came close to poaching Jean-Pierre Mustier, then-CEO of UniCredit SpA, but directors decided against him due to a now-resolved legal issue in Italy. Quinn, who’d been serving as interim boss, took the job instead. 

Quinn, 62, has said he will stay to oversee an orderly transition. Speaking in April, the HSBC veteran said he had been considering his position for several months, and he expects to pursue a portfolio career once he leaves.

The appointment of an internal candidate could also settle questions about a change of strategy at HSBC, which has spent the past four years pivoting its operations toward Asia, while selling off some of its largest Western operations such as Canada and France. 

The bank has been under pressure from shareholder Ping An Insurance Group Co. to make more dramatic changes, though the insurer is now weighing whether to cut its stake.

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