Editorial | Hong Kong first stop for new HSBC boss
Georges Elhedery faces many challenges, including placating the banking giant’s largest shareholder, Ping An, and navigating industry’s fast-changing landscape
Five years ago when global banks made tens of thousands of employees redundant in cost-cutting exercises amid falling revenues, HSBC made an exception of its Hong Kong-based Asian operations and continued to hire new staff.
That was a vote confidence in the potential of the city and the region to continue driving future growth. It is reflected in the fact that the new chief executive officer, Georges Elhedery, was scheduled to spend his first day in the job – today – with HSBC in Hong Kong.
The visit underscores the significance of the city to the bank as its largest revenue source. Elhedery is expected to spend a few days with staff at the HSBC building in Central, and visit key customers and Hong Kong’s financial regulators.
Elhedery takes over from Noel Quinn, who retired from the top job after five years in the role. When HSBC announced his successor, Quinn wrote: “He understands the importance of putting our clients’ needs first, our heritage and unique position in the world.”
The multilingual banker, who speaks conversational Mandarin, began his career in finance in Tokyo during the 1997 Asian financial crisis as a trader, before joining Goldman Sachs.
It remains to be seen whether a Mandarin-speaking chief executive can help HSBC mend ties with its biggest shareholder Ping An Insurance (Group), which has been agitating to break up the bank since 2022 to unlock bigger returns to shareholders.