HSBC plans to split oversight of Asia between two co-heads

In Asia, the bank is struggling to compete with dominant players such as Singapore’s DBS Group and Standard Chartered

A logo of HSBC on its headquarters at the financial central district in Hong Kong. Reuters

HSBC plans to split the job of overseeing its key Asian business as the bank’s regional boss Peter Wong prepares to step down from the role.

Europe’s largest lender plans to appoint Mr Wong’s protege, David Liao, and the chief executive of its Indian business, Surendra Rosha, as joint heads of its Asian arm this year, people familiar with the matter said.

Mr Liao is likely to manage Greater China, while Mr Rosha will oversee the rest of the region.

Mr Wong is expected to take a non-executive chairman role at the bank’s Asian business. A bank spokesperson declined to comment.

A smooth transition is crucial for the bank, which is staking its future on the region by steering billions of dollars in capital towards Asia, while shrinking or exiting unprofitable operations in other parts of this world. Key to this is capitalising on China’s rising affluence and its plans to create an economic powerhouse by linking Hong Kong closer to mainland cities such as Shenzhen and Guangzhou.

HSBC has also been seeking to deploy more resources across the rest of Asia, where it has been struggling to compete with dominant players such as Singapore’s DBS Group and rival Standard Chartered. It recently announced it would expand into private banking in Thailand.

“We are accelerating the plan by confirming areas of focus for the bank, especially in Asia where we see real opportunities to grow our wealth business and expand across South Asia,” said chairman Mark Tucker in January.

Mr Wong, a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the nation’s top political-advisory body, has nurtured relationships in Beijing during his five years as general manager of the bank’s China business.

Mr Liao is the head of Asia-Pacific global banking and previously oversaw China for five years, gaining experience in dealing with officials and regulators. He was born in Hong Kong and educated in the UK. The executive is popular among investors and analysts covering HSBC given his deep knowledge of Chinese markets.

Mr Rosha was appointed chief of HSBC’s India unit in July 2018. He joined the bank’s Indian operations in 1991 and has worked in multiple roles in foreign exchange trading and capital markets across a variety of countries.

Asia has continued to be the bank’s largest biggest profit centre, but recent earnings there were relatively unchanged from a year earlier.

As part of its pivot, HSBC is moving more of its top executives to Hong Kong, meaning that most of the bank will be run from the region on a day-to-day basis.