‘More politicised than any other bank’: HSBC’s new boss prepares to ride the Chinese tiger

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When a handful of Hong Kong journalists dialled in to a media call with HSBC bosses in February, Georges Elhedery took them by surprise. In a momentary distraction from the bank’s 80% drop in annual profits, the chief financial officer issued greetings in Mandarin. It put Elhedery’s newly acquired language skills – built up during a six-month sabbatical in 2022 – to a public test. But it also demonstrated his ambition: notably, that he would not let a relative lack of experience in China, where the bank makes the bulk of its profits, get in the way of his ascent at HSBC. Four months later, Elhedery’s drive has been duly rewarded, having been selected to take over from Noel Quinn as chief executive from September. While it is no surprise that HSBC appointed an internal candidate, it is still a coup for the Lebanese-born and French-educated banker, who joined HSBC in 2005 after a four-year stint at Goldman Sachs. He won over board members during his 18 months as chief financial officer, including HSBC’s tough chair, Mark Tucker, who has now outlasted three chief executives since taking the role in 2017. On Wednesday, Tucker called Elhedery, 50, the “outstanding candidate”, saying he had a record of “driving growth, delivering simplification and containing costs” and brought “deep international perspectives” to the role. Elhedery has also gained fans among investors and banking colleagues, who have described him as clever, diligent and gentle, and a clear communicator. Add his seven languages to the mix and the bank has the makings of a skilful diplomat, poised to help HSBC, which operates in 62 countries and territories, and also navigate one of the trickiest roles in global banking. “This is a more politicised appointment than virtually any other bank, given the need for any CEO to have the capability to get on with clients, regulators and politicians globally,” said Thomas Moore, a senior investment director at one of HSBC’s shareholders, Abrdn. Geopolitical tensions between the west and China will be one of the biggest challenges for the incoming boss as he oversees the lender’s $3tn balance sheet. And Elhedery will inherit an increasingly Asia-focused lender. Quinn and Tucker helped to further pivot the bank towards China, investing billions in joint ventures, private banking and wealth management in the region. While they have staved off calls from the activist investor Ping An to split off the lucrative Asia business, they did so in part by selling and scaling down operations in countries including the US, France and Canada. The strategy left Quinn walking a tightrope when political tensions flared. He became notorious for dodging questions about HSBC’s willingness to work with an increasingly authoritarian Beijing, after the bank’s bosses controversially accepted China’s authoritarian crackdown on democracy in Hong Kong in 2020. Elhedery will have to steel himself for further political pressure if Donald Trump wins the US election in November. If comments from Trump’s newly appointed running mate and prospective vice-president, JD Vance, are any indication, tensions between Washington and Beijing could reach fresh heights. “I don’t like China,” Vance told CBS in May as he bluntly blamed the country for problems in the US jobs market. Even colleagues who praise Elhedery’s skills say he faces an uphill battle. “China tensions are unmanageable: it doesn’t matter who the CEO is,” they said. “HSBC is now all-in to China. They now need to prepare to ride the tiger. It won’t be easy.” HSBC’s exposure to China’s lingering property and economic crises could also heap pressure on Elhedery, who in February announced that the bank had taken a shock $3bn impairment on its exposure to the Chinese lender BoCom. While Quinn has predicted a “progressive and gradual recovery” in China’s commercial real estate market, data in May showed house prices falling at their fastest rate in nearly a decade. Official figures this week also showed the economy grew 4.7% in the second quarter, falling short of expectations for a 5.1% rise. Income will also be squeezed in the west, as Elhedery grapples with the start of a new rate-cutting cycle by central banks. HSBC’s net interest income, which is the difference between what is earned from loans versus what is paid out to savers, grew 20% to $36bn in 2023 thanks to high interest rates. Analysts are now expecting the figure to fall back to $33bn for the current financial year as that trend reverses. But analysts are welcoming the certainty that comes with Elhedery’s appointment. UBS’s European banking expert Jason Napier said: “We expect [a] stable strategy.”