20th Nov 2019 09:03
(Alliance News) - HSBC Holdings PLC's long-serving Global Banking & Markets chief Samir Assaf is set to be replaced in the lender's soon-to-be-announced restructuring, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.
The newspaper said Assaf, who has run the under-fire investment banking unit for almost a decade, will be moved upstairs to the company's board.
The FT said the change could be announced later this year or in early 2020.
https://www.ft.com/content/8591e5a0-0b66-11ea-bb52-34c8d9dc6d84?emailId=5dd4ebdbbae2de00045f7d7e&segmentId=ce31c7f5-c2de-09db-abdc-f2fd624da608
Assaf could be the second high-profile departure from the bank in under a year, after Noel Quinn took the helm as chief executive officer in August following the sudden departure of former CEO John Flint - who left the role after only a year and a half.
In the lender's third quarter results, released in late October, recently appointed Quinn said the bank will undertake restructuring plans as "challenging" conditions hurts growth across several units.
"Parts of our business, especially Asia, held up well in a challenging environment in the third quarter," Quinn said in October. "However, in some parts, performance was not acceptable, principally business activities within continental Europe, the non-ring-fenced bank in the UK, and the US."
"Our previous plans are no longer sufficient to improve performance for these businesses, given the softer outlook for revenue growth," he added. "We are therefore accelerating plans to remodel them, and move capital into higher growth and return opportunities."
Geographically, HSBC posted a loss of USD424 million in Europe during the third quarter, compared to a USD634 million profit a year before. In North America, profit dropped 36% to USD299 million. In the Middle East & North Africa, HSBC's profit slipped 5.3% to USD305 million.
This was offset, however, by a positive performance in Asia. HSBC saw profit rise 4.3% in its core market to USD4.65 billion.
Within individual HSBC units, Retail Banking & Wealth Management reported a 17% year on year drop in profit to USD1.70 billion. Commercial Banking saw profit fall 11% to USD1.63 billion. Global Banking & Markets recorded a 30% fall in profit to USD1.24 billion.
Shares in HSBC were down 0.8% in London on Wednesday morning at 575.80 pence each.
By Paul McGowan; [email protected]
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