Wednesday 20 November 2019 9:02 am

HSBC investment banking boss to lose role in shake-up

HSBC’s investment banking boss is reportedly set to be replaced as part of a shake-up under interim chief executive Noel Quinn.

The lender’s head of global banking and markets Samir Assaf is to be moved to a non-executive role, according to the FT.

Assaf has led the unit for nearly ten years.

Sources told the paper that the move could be unveiled within the coming months ahead of Quinn’s plans to announce major new strategic changes for the business.

The potential replacement comes a month after HSBC posted a 19 per cent drop in third-quarter profit.

Acting chief executive Noel Quinn, who took charge after the shock departure of predecessor John Flint in August, blasted the recent performance as “not acceptable”.

The comments have sparked fears of job cuts amid speculation that Quinn will look to restructure large parts of the business.

“There is scope throughout the bank to clarify and simplify roles, and to reduce duplication,” Quinn told Reuters.

Brexit uncertainty, rising trade war tensions and continued civil unrest in Hong Kong have all contributed to a challenging environment for banking giants such as HSBC this year.

While the bank’s performance in Asia has held up, in areas such as continental Europe HSBC has struggled to maintain its profit.

Earlier this month HSBC received a second warning from the Bank of England over its lack of progress tackling so-called non-financial risks, according to reports in Bloomberg.

Assaf told other executives on a call that the BoE’s Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) had given HSBC another ticking off, leading him to convene a summit of HSBC’s top brass to try to thrash out a solution to the problem.

HSBC has been contacted for a response.