Who is Georges Elhedery, named next group CEO of HSBC from September

HSBC Bank on July 17 named internal candidate Georges Elhedery as the private lender's next chief financial officer to take over from outgoing CEO Noel Quinn in September 2024, AFP reported.

In an exchange filing with the Hong Kong stock exchange, Group Chairman Mark Tucker announced, “I am delighted to confirm Georges as the next HSBC Group chief executive. The Board concluded that Georges was the outstanding candidate and we look forward to working together as he leads HSBC through the next phase of development and growth.”

Elhedery will drive the 160-year-old bank's “next phase of development and growth” and “push transformation”, the report added. It noted that he will formally take over on September 2.

Quinn had announced his retirement in April this year, much to the shock of company observers. He cited better work-life balance and planned to pursue a portfolio career. HSBC has traditionally appointed its CEO from within, as per Reuters.

Who Is Georges Elhedery?

Georges Elhedery, 50, joined HSBC in 2005. He has held the role of chief financial officer since January 2023, and prior to that was co-CEO of Global Banking and Markets at HSBC. Besides this, he also led the bank's Middle Eastern, North Africa and Turkey region between July 216 and February 2019.

Born in Lebanon, Elhedery is French-educated and has a “track record of leading through change, driving growth, delivering simplification, containing costs and brings a strong focus on execution”, Tucker added in the release.

Speaking on his appointment, Elhedery said he was “deeply honoured”

“I am deeply honoured by the trust placed in me to lead this great institution into the future. Working together with our talented team, I look forward to delivering exceptional value to our clients and investors by driving strong performance on a sustainable growth trajectory,” he stated in the filing.

Notably, Elhedery would be the third CEO appointed for the MNC in less than eight years and under Tucker, who has been at the bank's board since 2017, Bloomberg noted. Tucker's nine-year tenure with the bank is likely to end in 2026, but the bank could seek an extension of term in exceptional circumstances, Bloomberg added.

Outgoing Noel Quinn

Quinn, 62, will work with Elhedery to ensure a "smooth and orderly" handover before stepping down, the bank statement said. Further, Elhedery replacement as CFO will be announced “in due course” it added.

HSBC will report its annual results on July 31. The bank's shares in Hong Kong traded flat after the announcement, as per Reuters.

Quinn, oversaw a transformation of the London-headquartered lender and saw record profits during almost five years in charge. He accelerated the firm's years-long pivot to Asia (its biggest revenue market) and vowed to develop its wealth business and target fast-growing markets.

Analysts, investors and insiders told Reuters that falling interest rates, unproven growth plans, geopolitical tensions, bad loans in China, and geographical focus with profits skewed towards Hong Kong would be issues of challenge for the new CEO Elhedery.

(With inputs from AFP, Reuters and Bloomberg)