More HSBC senior managers to go as CEO continues overhaul

By Selena Li, Lawrence White and Sinead Cruise

HONG KONG/LONDON (Reuters) -HSBC announced a raft of senior management departures and appointments on Thursday, as CEO Georges Elhedery completed the first phase of a sweeping overhaul aimed at streamlining costs and improving decision making.

Global Private Banking and Wealth head Annabel Spring was among the most senior newly-announced departures, according to a company release. She will be replaced by Gabriel Castello as interim CEO for global private banking, starting Jan. 1.

Former Morgan Stanley and Barclays investment banker Matthew Ginsburg will also leave the bank, it said.

HSBC in October unveiled a plan to merge some operations and split its geographic footprint into East and West, and remove duplicate roles as it focuses on Asia to try to cap costs and bolster income.

The revamp, one of the largest in years for the London-headquartered bank, has seen a steady flow of senior managers depart in recent weeks as Elhedery sought to create a simpler and more dynamic organisation.

“We have now completed the next stage of these important changes, which will help us fast forward our plans to execute our strategic priorities,” Elhedery said in a separate release.

The bank also promoted Lisa McGeough to become its president and CEO for the United States, its first female CEO in the region for more than a decade.

McGeough, who currently serves as co-head of global banking coverage, will drive the expansion of HSBC’s wholesale business in the U.S., the bank said.

Her predecessor, Michael Roberts, was recently elevated to CEO of the newly-merged corporate and institutional banking business and will relocate to London.

Among the more high profile exits in recent weeks was chief sustainability officer Celine Herweijer, who stepped down weeks after a previous stage of Elhedery’s reshuffle removed her role from the lender’s executive committee.

“I don’t think there will ever truly be an end to the shuffling and churning at an organisation as large as HSBC, but one would hope the pace slows and allows some stability for the workforce,” Shore Capital analyst Gary Greenwood told Reuters.

“This should then allow the business to grow and develop which, in turn, should be positive for shareholders if the changes that have been made were effective,” he added.

HSBC’s shares have risen 20% this year as it reported robust earnings despite falling interest rates, outperforming Britain’s wider FTSE 100 index which has risen nearly 8%.

(Reporting by Prerna Bedi in Bengaluru, Selena Li in Hong Kong, Lawrence White and Sinead Cruise in London. Editing by Catherine Evans and Mark Potter)