HSBC’s ideal new boss probably doesn’t exist

Half Marks. HSBC is a singular beast. $167 billion bank is listed and hequartered in London, but makes most of its money in Asia, with clients ranging from Hong Kong savers to giant Western companies. No one possesses long list of skills that would make m perfect fit to run group. That makes choosing its next CEO an exercise in compromise for Chair Mark Tucker, who is considering both internal and external candidates to replace departing Noel Quinn.

Investors and people who know HSBC agree perfect boss would be a reily available proven executive with experience of Western and Asian markets, and a solid understanding of bank’s $3 trillion balance sheet and HSBC’s idiosyncratic culture. Hehunters working on such complex assignments often quantify candidates’ credentials across different factors. It’s an instructive exercise.

Breakingviews has gred potential internal and external CEO candidates by assigning m a score from nought to five in six different categories. None of m score full marks. Chief Financial Officer Georges Elhedery does best: his current role exposes him to everything from UK mortgages to Mexican tre finance. However, he hasn’t lived permanently in HSBC’s core market of Hong Kong or h sole responsibility for a key business line.

Or internal candidates – like retail and wealth boss Nuno Matos, investment banking he Greg Guyett and commercial boss Barry O’Byrne – score better on those fronts, but less well on ors. ir experience at HSBC has focused on eir consumer or wholesale side.

By definition, none of internal contenders has ever led a bank. If that matters most to Tucker, he could look at UniCredit CEO Andrea Orcel, Lloyds Banking Group’s Charlie Nunn or Helen Wong, who runs Singapore’s OCBC. latter two CEOs have benefit of previously working for HSBC.

But hiring from outside means compromising on availability. Rival executives will have non-compete clauses, which usually means lengthy gardening leave. same is probably true for Simon Cooper, anor HSBC alumnus who recently stepped down as he of corporate and investment banking at rival Standard Chartered. A long wait is not ideal for HSBC, which has not given investors financial guidance for 2025, and whose shareholders want to know what growth plan is when interest rates fall.

biggest test for any new boss will be dealing with rising tensions between China and West while navigating HSBC, which has rejected numerous outsiders in past. Working with Tucker, who is choosing his third CEO in less than seven years, is anor challenge. only consolation is that ideal candidate probably does not exist.