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Leadership shuffles continue under the watch of HSBC’s interim chief executive Noel Quinn including the latest renaming of the head of its China investment banking arm to succeed David Liao.
Mark Wang Yunfeng, most recently the bank’s China head of global banking and markets, succeeds Liao as president and chief executive of China. Previously, he had held senior roles with Bank of China and Deutsche Bank.
Liao will remain with the bank and be shifted to another senior position.
China is central to HSBC’s strategic aim of accelerating growth from its Asian franchise,» said Peter Wong, HSBC’s China chairman. «With his extensive banking experience, particularly in driving China-related business in trading and capital markets, Mark will lead one of the group’s most important markets, helping us to support our customers’ businesses within as well as outside the mainland.
Wang’s promotion follows a series of other shuffles at HSBC’s top management globally including the appointment this year of Stephen Moss, former group CEO chief of staff, as the regional chief executive overseeing the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey; Latin America and Canada; and most of Europe. Last year, the U.S. CEO was also renamed to former Citi banker Michael Roberts.
But the question remains about the shuffling of the highest rank. The permanence of Quinn’s role continues to be in doubt since he was named interim head, succeeding John Flint who lasted just 18 months. Onlookers expected closure to the matter during the last annual meeting but no such thing occurred and the bank responded by saying that the appointment process was «ongoing» and in line with its six to 12-month timetable.
In addition to a massive group overhaul involving up to 35,000 job cuts and a target of $4.5 billion in annual cost savings, the bank faces political headwinds for its China business. Wang takes on an investment bank whose interests in the mainland have already landed it in the crossfires twice including the U.S.-Huawei debacle and the controversial closure an account linked to pro-democracy activities in Hong Kong last year.
Still, the region will be equipped with internal tailwinds. The bank is set to concentrate its bets on Asia despite the said hurdles alongside a broader challenging environment that now includes a coronavirus pandemic. HSBC most recently announced that it had already hired 800 people since 2017 for its affluent banking businesses in Hong Kong, China and Singapore.
