Georges Elhedery, the co-head of the investment bank of HSBC would become the finance chief next year as one of the future CEO candidates. The financial institution reshuffles after a 42% fall in the third-quarter profits. Loan losses as well as a hit from the French business sales are also impacting the fall. In a detail, HSBC’s London-listed shares thumbled to 442.65bp or 6.8%. Then, the bank’s Hong Kong shares plunged 5.1% to HK$39.95. Based on the analysts, the decline is due to the concerning executive changes in a disagreement. This affects the bank’s strategy and guidance especially on the loan losses.
Greg Guyett, the co-head of global banking and markets of HSBC reshuffles GBM as a sole head soon. To be exact, Elhedery would run the market side of GBM while Guyett would run the investment banking. It means that Elhedery would replace Ewen Stevenson who sits as a chief financial officer. On a conference call, CEO Noel Quinn said to reporters that the bank would use a three-year transformation program to approach. He and the bank’s board have already reviewed the composition of the GEC (Group Executive Committee) as a long-term succession plan.
Therefore, Stevenson would leave after the handover period. So far, Stevenson has been the CFO of the bank since the beginning of 2019. Previously, he was serving NatWest Group for five years as CEO and 25 years as investment banker in Credit Suisse. He worked with Quinn on the HSBC overhaul. This covers shifting assets, selling business, and improving returns and efficiency. An analyst from Goodbody, John Cronin argued that this could be a fallout in the most senior management levels and organization. The impact might raise among the investor community who regard Stevenson.