HSBC Holdings Plc is moving towards naming its next chief executive from a shortlist of internal candidates as the corporate begins its seek for a successor to outgoing boss Noel Quinn.
Chief Financial Officer Georges Elhedery and head of wealth and private banking Nuno Matos are seen as key successors to Quinn, who announced his resignation last month, based on people aware of the matter. The bank hired an outdoor recruiting firm to check them with outside candidates for the job, among the people said, asking to not be identified since it was an internal process.
The search is just starting and the board could go in one other direction, the people said. A spokesman for HSBC declined to comment.
The internal squad is taken into account strong and can help avoid a lengthy seek for a substitute for Quinn, with many external candidates prone to have to finish a garden leave period before joining. Chairman Mark Tucker said he expects to finish the method within the second half of the 12 months.
Quinn announced his resignation last month, a surprise move that comes as Europe’s biggest lender tries to navigate deteriorating relations between China and the United States. During his tenure, Quinn led a series of strategic reviews, culminating in a plan to extend the bank’s investment in its Asian business while reducing investment in markets reminiscent of the United States and France.
The company is committed to this strategy in the longer term, even when tensions between Beijing and Washington proceed to rise. An outside candidate could be more prone to wish to present a brand new strategy, which has also made the board more inclined to support the interior talent bank, people aware of the matter said.
Promote talent
Elhedery, 50, took on the role of CFO in early 2023. The Lebanese native rose through the ranks in HSBC’s markets department and spent several weeks shadowing Quinn before taking up his latest role.
In 2022, Elhedery began a six-month sabbatical on the bank. He used this time to learn Mandarin and – if chosen to succeed Quinn – he could be the bank’s first Chinese-speaking CEO in modern times.
Some of HSBC’s biggest investors have long wanted the bank’s top executives to have stronger ties to Asia, where HSBC generates most of its revenue, people aware of the matter say. The board is aware of investors’ wishes on this regard, the people said.
Matos, 56, has also made strong claims for the position after receiving a series of promotions that took the previous Banco Santander SA chief executive from CEO of HSBC’s Mexican business to move of its largest division. As a part of the bank’s concentrate on Asia, the native Portuguese also moved from London to Hong Kong.
Headhunters are compiling an inventory of several outside candidates, based on people aware of the matter. They include Charlie Nunn, a former HSBC executive who became CEO of Lloyds Banking Group Plc in 2021.
Nunn was considered a possible successor to Quinn before he left HSBC after a long time on the bank. Before joining HSBC, he was a senior partner at McKinsey & Co. and previously worked at Accenture Plc.
Earlier this month, Nunn responded to an issue about whether he was serious about becoming HSBC’s next boss, telling an audience at Bloomberg’s Sell Side Forum in London that he was focused on his current role.
“I put together a new team,” Nunn said. “I’m really looking forward to the next few years at Lloyds.”
What Bloomberg Intelligence says
JPMorgan graduate Bill Winters’ experience at Standard Chartered shows that a powerful external candidate is probably not the very best option. HSBC must display its ability to speed up growth in Asia. The streamlining of the franchise is now largely complete and we increasingly suspect that an internal candidate could also be preferred. George Elhedery (CFO), Nuno Matos (CEO of Wealth and Personal Banking) and Gregory Guyett (CEO of Global Banking and Markets, ex-JPMorgan) are likely amongst Quinn’s potential successors.
