HSBC chief executive Noel Quinn is unexpectedly stepping down after five years, triggering a search for a successor at one of the biggest banks in the world.
Mr Quinn, 63, will depart from the role later this year once a replacement has been found.
He has been chief executive since 2019 and has been at the bank for 37 years.
Mr Quinn, who ran HSBC’s commercial bank before ascending to the top job, said the intensity of the role and his wish to spend more time with his family was behind his decision to step down.
He said: “I spent some time reflecting over Christmas on the journey for the next few years, and I felt personally that it was time for me to actually get a better balance.
“I want to get a better balance for me personally, and for my family to make sure I can spend more time with them.
“Doing this job, you have to give 100 percent, if not 120 percent of your energy, your mindset, and your time to the role.
“You can keep doing that, but that doesn’t necessarily achieve the balance in life that I wanted. I want to have a better balance in how I use my energy. It’s as simple as that.”
Mr Quinn took over first as interim chief of HSBC after predecessor John Flint lasted just 18 months in the role.
Mr Quinn oversaw a radical restructuring of the bank that saw 35,000 jobs cut in 2020 as part of efforts to “simplify” its business and improve performance. Under his watch, HSBC also shifted its focus towards China in an effort to boost growth.
His tenure was marked by the Covid-19 pandemic and heightening tensions between the West and China. HSBC’s unique position between the two power blocks made Mr Quinn’s job increasingly political, with the bank facing pressure to sign up to Beijing’s security laws in Hong Kong, and criticism in Washington and Westminster for closing bank accounts of pro-democracy activists in the region.
HSBC has said it abides by all laws in the regions where it operates.
Mr Quinn will formally stay in place until April 2025 but he will step back from duties once a new chief executive is appointed.
The Birmingham-born banker joined what was then Midland Bank in 1987, and came up through the ranks in the 1990s before taking the helm of the commercial bank in Hong Kong in the mid-2000s.
Mark Tucker, the bank’s chairman, learnt of Mr Quinn’s plans to leave last month and said the bank was aiming to appoint a successor in the second half of the year. Mr Tucker said HSBC was “well-prepared” for the transition.
He said: “This is Noel’s decision to retire and I think this makes huge sense in terms of the end of a transformation period.”
HSBC made record profits last year and dividends and buybacks are also at a 10-year high. Mr Quinn said this marked a good moment to bow out.
Pre-tax profits fell by $200m (£160m) to $12.7bn in the first quarter of 2024, HSBC said on Tuesday.
The bank is looking both internally and externally for its new chief. HSBC is likely to face questions over whether its new boss should come from Asia, given the bank makes the vast majority of profits from the region.
Top shareholder Ping An last year mounted a campaign to force HSBC to split in two and take greater recognition of its Asian presence.
Shares in HSBC rose more than 3pc in early trading in London.
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