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By Ishika Dangayach 11:30 AM ET
HSBC Holdings PLC said on Monday that its Asia-Pacific CEO, Peter Wong, is retiring and that it has chosen two veteran bankers to head its operations in the area.
The London-based banking behemoth named David Liao and Surendra Rosha as Asia-Pacific co-CEOs with immediate effect, putting them in charge of HSBC's largest profit generator.
The appointments come at a time when the UK lender is concentrating on its operations in Asia, where it produces the majority of its earnings, and relocating senior executives for important divisions from London to Hong Kong.
Liao previously served as the head of global banking for the Asia Pacific at HSBC, basically overseeing the investment bank in the area, while Rosha formerly served as the head of HSBC India. They will take over the positions immediately and report to CEO Noel Quinn.
Quinn said in a statement that the pair would “lead this next phase of our Asia strategy as we focus on expanding and diversifying our presence across the world’s most dynamic region.”
They will also be members of HSBC's executive committee and the Asia-Pacific business's board of directors.
The restructuring comes at a critical time for HSBC, which has been caught up in geopolitical tensions between China and the West and is shifting its operations to focus more on clients in Hong Kong and mainland China.
The area is a key profit center for HSBC and also employs a sizable share of the bank's entire workforce. HSBC reported $3.76 billion in pretax profit in Asia in the first three months of 2021, compared to a bank-wide total of $5.78 billion. HSBC had around 95,000 people in its three largest Asian locations—India, Hong Kong, and mainland China—at the end of 2020, out of a global workforce of 226,000.
HSBC plans to invest $6 billion in Asia over the next five years to enhance its wealth management and investment banking operations.
“We are investing in Asia’s dynamic markets and in our technology,” said Liao and Rosha in a joint statement. “This will generate unprecedented opportunities both for the bank and for our customers.”
Meanwhile, Hitendra Dave will be named as Chief Executive Officer of HSBC India succeeding Surendra Rosha.
With inputs from FN