HSBC Holdings has announced Pam Kaur as the banking group’s first female chief financial officer in its 160-year history.
Kaur (pictured) has worked for HSBC since 2013 and joined as group head of audit. She is currently group chief risk and compliance officer.
She is a qualified chartered accountant and has almost 40 years of financial services experience having worked in the UK and US for British, American and German banks.
HSBC said Kaur has “strong technical knowledge and experience in treasury, capital, balance sheet and risk management”.
She has served on HSBC’s group executive committee for more than 10 years.
Jon Bingham, current interim chief financial officer, will continue in his role as global financial controller.
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Sir Mark Tucker, group chair of HSBC, said: “I would like to congratulate Pam on her appointment as group chief financial officer. She is highly respected and well known to the board and was the unanimous choice.
“I wish Pam every success in her new role and thank Jon for his excellent support as interim group chief financial officer.”
Georges Elhedery, group CEO of HSBC, said: “We had a strong bench of internal and external candidates to choose from and Pam was the exceptional candidate to recommend to the board.
“I look forward to partnering with her for the next stage of the bank’s growth and development. I would also like to thank Jon for his outstanding support during the interim period.”
HSBC said it would announce an update on Kaur’s successor as group chief risk and compliance officer in due course.
Elhedery was appointed in July this year, taking over from the retiring Noel Quinn.
HSBC organisational changes
HSBC Holdings announced a “simplified organisational structure” which it said would “accelerate delivery against its strategic priorities”.
From 1 January 2025, it will operate through four businesses, Hong Kong, UK, Corporate and Institutional Banking, International Wealth and Premier Banking.
Its UK business will comprise UK personal banking, including First Direct and M&S Bank, as well as UK commercial banking including innovation banking under the oversight of HSBC UK CEO Ian Stuart.
The new Corporate and Institutional Banking business will integrate its commercial banking business outside of the UK and Hong Kong with its global banking and markets business.
A new geographic governance has been formed under ‘western markets’, comprising its UK non-ringfenced bank, Europe and the Americas. This will be a predominately wholesale banking region led by Michael Roberts.
Its other geographic governance will be its ‘eastern markets’ overseen by David Liao and Surendra Rosha, bringing together the Asia-Pacific region (APAC) and the Middle East region (MENAT).
Elhedery added: “The changes that we are announcing today will make it easier for our colleagues to serve our customers and drive the future success of the group. The new structure will result in a simpler, more dynamic, and agile organisation as we focus on executing against our strategic priorities, which remain unchanged.
“I am excited about the opportunities ahead of us and firmly believe that this structure sets us up to deliver the next phase of growth. Our home markets of the UK and Hong Kong, together with our corporate and institutional banking as well as our wealth and Premier banking businesses, are the core strengths of HSBC.
“By making these changes, we can better focus on increasing leadership and market share in those businesses which have clear competitive advantage and the greatest opportunities to grow. This is how we will fast forward our plans to execute our strategy, unleash the full potential of the bank and ensure our talented colleagues can thrive, and deliver best in class products and service excellence, for our customers. When our customers succeed, so do we.”
