HSBC's Westerman Is Said to Leave Bank After Less Than 2 Years

(Bloomberg) -- Matthew Westerman, the high profile dealmaker brought in to overhaul HSBC Holdings Plc's investment banking arm, is leaving less than two years after he was recruited from Goldman Sachs Group Inc., according to people familiar with the plans.

Westerman, who was named co-head of global banking in February 2016, agreed to depart Europe's largest bank by the end of the month, said the people, who asked not to be identified speaking because the decision isn't public.

A spokeswoman for HSBC declined to comment. Westerman, who is based in London, didn't immediately return a call seeking comment.

Robin Phillips, who was in charge of global banking when Westerman joined and worked alongside him, will continue running the unit, one of the people said.

Westerman, the former chairman of Goldman Sachs's European investment bank, attempted to inject a more competitive edge to the advisory and financing unit he oversaw at HSBC, which he considered to be too convivial, Bloomberg News reported in January.

Read More: HSBC Bonus Winners, Losers Said to Get Ruthless Under Westerman

He sharpened divisions within its bonus pool -- giving more lucrative awards to top performers while slashing compensation for those ranked at the bottom -- instituted a harsher end-of-year review procedure, and promoted a smaller percentage of candidates to become managing directors, people familiar with his management style have said.

He was seen as a potential successor to departing Chief Executive Officer Stuart Gulliver. Last month new Chairman Mark Tucker instead opted for long-serving insider John Flint, the head of retail banking and wealth management who's worked for HSBC since 1989 to succeed Gulliver.

While at Goldman Sachs, Westerman was one of HSBC's most trusted external advisers for years and was close to Gulliver and former Chairman Douglas Flint, people familiar with his career said. Douglas Flint left in October and Gulliver steps down in February.

Westerman joined Goldman Sachs from N.M. Rothschild & Sons as a managing director in 2000 and became a partner in 2002. He ran the U.S. firm's investment-banking division in Asia outside of Japan from 2012 to 2015. He had also previously worked at firms including Credit Suisse First Boston.

To contact the reporter on this story: Stephen Morris in London at smorris39@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ambereen Choudhury at achoudhury@bloomberg.net, Jon Menon

©2017 Bloomberg L.P.