HSBC Holdings Plc, a big global bank, has changed its leadership and this has affected female executives in Asia. The bank asked many managers to apply again for senior positions in its newly merged corporate and institutional banking unit. Two notable women, Christina Ma and Amanda Murphy, were hopeful to lead this unit for Asia and the Middle East, but both lost out on the roles. Christina is now leaving the bank.
In total, HSBC appointed at least 15 new heads for banking roles in Asia-Pacific, but only two of them were women: Hajrah Sakauloo and Priya Kini. Major banking positions in important markets like Singapore, China, and India were given to men, while men predominantly kept their jobs in smaller markets.
Many staff members were surprised by some of these new appointments. HSBC combined its commercial and global banking business this year, leading to a restructuring that made it hard to know how many women were in top roles before the changes.
HSBC’s new banking unit is crucial because it generated a whopping $11.4 billion in pre-tax profits globally, making up 35% of the bank’s total profits.
Despite the loss of female leaders in some areas, HSBC has appointed women in other parts of the bank. For example, they named Pam Kaur as the first female chief financial officer and have notable women leading various locations, like Luanne Lim in Hong Kong.
However, other senior female executives like Rachel Watson are also leaving. Meanwhile, HSBC says that as of 2024, 34.6% of its senior roles are held by women, which is similar to its competitors.
Leave a Reply