(Reuters) -HSBC Holdings Plc said on Wednesday it appointed Georges Elhedery as its group chief executive, with effect from Sept. 2, making him the third CEO in less than eight years for the global lender. Elhedery is the current chief financial officer and will replace outgoing head Noel Quinn in September.
Since 2020, Elhedery had been the co-head of the Global Banking and Markets business, the division that houses HSBC’s trading and investment banking advisory businesses.
Lebanon-born Elhedery, who began his career in banking as a rates trader before joining HSBC in 2005, was named the surprise successor to Ewen Stevenson as CFO in October 2022, just weeks after returning from a sabbatical.
He also led HSBC’s Middle Eastern, North Africa and Turkiye region as the CEO between July 2016 and February 2019.
Quinn, who led the global lender for five years, will remain CEO until his successor starts in the role, and has agreed to remain available through to the end of his 12-month notice period expiring on April 30, 2025.
Quinn oversaw a raft of asset sales, navigated a global pandemic and a push by rebel investors to break up the 160-year bank, and guided the lender to record profit.
The move comes at a time when HSBC, Europe’s largest lender by assets with a balance sheet of $3 trillion, is betting on its historic Asian ties to ramp up profit.
Since the financial crisis of 2008, HSBC has already shrunk its global footprint by around a quarter, exiting low-growth markets to plough capital and resources into Asia.
HSBC said it will announce Elhedery’s successor as Group CFO in due course.