Legendary John Bond to retire from HSBC in May next |
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Published
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Mon, 28 Nov 2005 14:05
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LONDON: HSBC Holdings Plc. announced that its chairman John Bond would retire at the annual meeting in May 2006 and current group chief executive Stephen Green, 57, will assume that position. Bond, 64, has been HSBC's chairman since 1998 and has been with the bank for nearly 45 years.
Green's position will be filled by HSBC U.K.'s current head Michael Geoghegan. Dyfrig John, currently Geoghegan's deputy, will replace him at the U.K. unit.
The bank said Green's elevation as chairman has been done in consultation with major institutional investors in the bank and after an independent external search as there were apprehensions that the elevation goes against the Combined Code on Corporate Governance.
HSBC's deputy chairman Sir Brian Mofat, explaining the appointment in a letter to shareholders, said the business is managed through international teamwork, and HSBC believed "this is best achieved by management continuity and amongst colleagues who have similar values".
Bond is credited with transforming the 140- year-old banking major with roots in Asia into the world's third-biggest bank by market value behind Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. He was responsible for more than $46 billion worth of acquisitions, most importantly, Household International Inc, of the U.S. and Credit Commercial de France SA of France. He had taken the bank to mainland China, where it acquired stakes in Bank of Communications and Ping An Insurance.
A man known for his cost-cutting measures, he used to travel to work on London's Underground and notified employees that they must turn off the office lights when they leave each day. Knighted in 1999, he had worked for the bank in Asia for 25 years and the U.S. for four years.
Green, chief executive of the bank since May 2003, is a graduate of Oxford University and a master's from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He had careers in the ministry of overseas development and McKinsey & Co., before joining HSBC.
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