Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

HSBC says interim CEO Noel Quinn can keep the job permanently

Quinn’s appointment comes as HSBC faces fallout from coronavirus, social unrest, low-interest rates and the US-China trade war.His pay package includes a base salary of £1.27 million (US$1.53 million) and a fixed pay allowance of £1.7 million per year

HSBC Holdings says its interim chief executive Noel Quinn will keep the role permanently, effective immediately, the bank said on Tuesday.

“Noel has proven to be the outstanding candidate to take on a role permanently that he has performed impressively on an interim basis since August 2019,” Mark Tucker, chairman of HSBC, said in a statement.

Quinn, 58, was appointed acting chief executive and replaced John Flint in August after Tucker said a “different approach” was needed by HSBC in a more challenging environment. Flint was in the job just 18 months.

Quinn takes the top job at HSBC at a challenging time. Global economic is set to slow because of the coronavirus outbreak that has infected over 180,000 people worldwide. The bank, Europe's largest banks by assets, and other lenders are also struggling to navigate historically low-interest rates worldwide.

The US Federal Reserve cut interest rates by one percentage point to zero on Sunday, which was immediately followed by Hong Kong Monetary Authority cutting its base rate by 64 basis points to 0.86 per cent. Hong Kong, where the bank has a large presence, fell into recession in the third quarter.

Tucker believes Quinn to be the right man to navigate these problems.

“He is a strong and proven leader with extensive global banking expertise, deep client relationships and the energy and skill to drive the business forward at pace,” Tucker said. “In the last few months, Noel has worked closely with the board to agree on the key actions required to build and enhance performance on a sustainable basis. He has shown a great understanding of HSBC, the challenges we face and the significant opportunities for growth that lie ahead.”

After the appointment, Quinn said in a statement that he would work with Tucker and the over 230,000 staff of HSBC worldwide “to reposition the bank for success in the future.”

“HSBC is an outstanding global company with talented and dedicated people. There is much that remains to be done and I am confident that we will rise to the challenge and deliver for our shareholders, customers, employees and society at large,” Quinn said.

His pay package includes a base salary of £1.27 million (US$1.53 million) and a fixed pay allowance of £1.7 million per year and a pension equal to 10 per cent of his base salary. He may get a bonus of up to 215 per cent of his salary, according to the bank's filing in London.

This is similar to that of his predecessor John Flint who had a base salary £1.2 million a year, a fixed pay allowance of £1.7 million and a pension allowance of £360,000.

The bank is listed in both London and Hong Kong. The bank’s shares in London rose 6.5 per cent on Tuesday to close at 494.65 pence.

Quinn has a BA (Honours) in Accountancy from Birmingham Polytechnic. In 1987, he joined Forward Trust Group, a subsidiary of Midland Bank which in the early 1990s were taken over by HSBC. He was based in Hong Kong from 2011 to 2015 when he was the regional head of commercial banking for Asia-Pacific. He was appointed chief executive of global commercial banking in December 2015, and became group managing director in September 2016, according to the website of the bank.

Since taking over as interim chief executive, Quinn has restructured the bank's European management, reshuffled its investment bank and named a new executive to oversee strategic execution in its US business.

In February, Quinn said HSBC would cut as many as 35,000 jobs and reduce annual costs by a further US$4.5 billion in the bank's third major reshaping in a decade.

As part of the revamped strategy, HSBC is making a bigger bet on rising income in mainland China and Asia, particularly in the Greater Bay Area as China's financial services industry further opens up. Quinn has said the bank would shift capital from underperforming businesses in Europe and the US to growth markets, including China and Hong Kong.

HSBC has been shrinking its investment bank in Europe and the US and cut its American retail branch network by 30 per cent.

Moody's and other major credit rating agencies downgraded their outlooks for HSBC to negative in November and in December after the bank warned it would not reach its 11 per cent return on tangible equity (ROTE) target in 2020. The bank's ROTE was 8.4 per cent in 2019.

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
House Republicans Move to Defund OECD Over Global Tax Dispute
France Opens Criminal Investigation into X Over Algorithm Manipulation Allegations
Trump Steamrolls EU in Landmark Trade Win: US–EU Trade Deal Imposes 15% Tariff on European Imports
ChatGPT CEO Sam Altman says people share personal info with ChatGPT but don’t know chats can be used as court evidence in legal cases.
Intel Reports Revenue Beats but Sees 81% Rise in Losses
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
Tulsi Gabbard Unveils Evidence Alleging Political Manipulation of Intelligence During Trump Administration
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Trump Announces Coca-Cola to Shift to Cane Sugar in U.S. Production
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
Moonshot AI Unveils Kimi K2: A New Open-Source AI Model
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Proposes Supplying Arms to Ukraine Through NATO Allies
US Opens First Rare Earth Mine in Over 70 Years in Wyoming
Bitcoin Reaches New Milestone of $116,000
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
Western Europe Records Hottest June on Record
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
France Requests Airlines to Cut Flights at Paris Airports Amid Planned Air Traffic Controller Strike
Poland Implements Border Checks Amid Growing Migration Tensions
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Amazon Reaches Milestone with Deployment of One Millionth Robot
Yulia Putintseva Calls for Spectator Ejection at Wimbledon Over Safety Concerns
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
×