Quitting while ahead makes sense when things start looking tough. The surprise announcement of HSBC chief executive Noel Quinn’s departure on Tuesday comes just as investor sentiment towards China weakens.
Quinn, who took the top position in 2020 after serving as an interim CEO, is retiring. The next boss of the Asia-focused lender — and chief financial officer Georges Elhedery is a contender — will take the reins at a challenging time.
During Quinn’s tenure HSBC did well. Its share price rose about a third, slightly ahead of Asian peers. Higher interest rates boosted the bank’s net interest income. For the quarter to March pre-tax profit fell nearly 2 per cent to $12.7bn but still slightly beat expectations. Its common equity tier one capital ratio increased 0.4 percentage points to 15.2 per cent from the previous quarter.