HSBC appoints former investment bank head Georges Elhedery as CFO, potential CEO-in-waiting

HSBC made a surprise move and named Georges Elhedery as its new chief financial officer (CFO) on Tuesday. The former head of the investment bank is now in the pole position to eventually succeed Noel Quinn as CEO.

The change came as HSBC's profits were knocked by a 42% slide in the third quarter, the result of loan losses and charges from the sale of its French business as it seeks to placate investors including China's Ping An Insurance Group.

HSBC stock, which fell as much as 8%, was on track for its worst single day performance since April 2020 as investors digested the sudden CFO shift and muted performance forecasts.

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Lebanese-born Elhedery, who is a French passport holder had gone on six-month sabbatical from HSBC in January. He had stated that he wanted to travel with his family and explore personal interests.

Quinn said that while departing CFO Ewen Stevenson had done a good restructuring job over three years, the London-headquartered bank had succession in mind, effectively putting 48-year-old Elhedery at the front of the queue to be CEO.

"There is no change in strategy as a consequence of these leadership changes," Quinn, 60, said. "This is about how the group executive committee is positioned with potential succession options for the future," he told Reuters.

Former investment banker Stevenson, 56, who will leave HSBC next year, told Reuters he was "looking forward to some time off and thinking about future options".

"Stevenson was undoubtedly seen as doing a great job amongst the investor community," said John Cronin, analyst at Goodbody.

"His exit is most certainly a surprise and it smells of a fallout at the top management level in terms of direction of travel for HSBC - which will raise many questions," he said.

(With inputs from agencies)

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