HSBC to restructure its operations into four business units from January

HSBC Holdings named insider Pam Kaur as its first female finance chief on Tuesday, replacing Georges Elhedery who became CEO earlier this year, and said it would streamline the bank into four business units.

Effective January 1, 2025, the company will restructure its operations into four distinct business lines: Hong Kong; UK; corporate and institutional banking; and lastly international wealth and premier banking, HSBC said.

The group is consolidating its commercial banking operations, excluding the UK and Hong Kong, with its global banking and markets business.

The new corporate and institutional banking unit will also incorporate the predominantly wholesale banking activities in the western markets region that include the UK non-ring-fenced banks, Europe, and the Americas, the company said.

"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," CEO Elhedery said in a statement.

Elhedery, like many bank executives, is under pressure to address climbing costs and better manage expenses at Europe's largest lender.

The bank, which employs about 214,000 people globally, has been removing duplicate roles for years and reducing its businesses in Western markets such as the United States, France and Canada as it focuses on Asia and markets where it has scale.

Kaur's appointment fits into the 160-year-old lender's focus on continuity amid a shift to growth, from restructuring, in the backdrop of rising risks associated with geopolitical tensions and an end to interest rate hikes.

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Kaur, 60, currently serves as HSBC's chief risk and compliance officer and joined the bank in April 2013 as group head of internal audit.

Kaur has previously held senior positions at top global banks, including Citigroup's global director of compliance for consumer banking and Deutsche Bank's global head of group audit.

Jon Bingham, interim Group CFO, will resume his role of Global Financial Controller, 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," Elhedery said.