Skip to content
Subscriber Only

HSBC’s Next CEO Could Be the First Outsider to Run the Bank

  • Bank could go for an outsider after insider Flint disappoints
  • Lender will be looking for banker with international outlook
Inside the HSBC Hong Kong headquarters. 

Inside the HSBC Hong Kong headquarters. 

Photographer: Anthony Wallace/AFP via Getty Images

In its 154-year history, HSBC Holdings Plc has never been run by an outsider. But the stunning ouster of John Flint after just 18 months as chief executive officer suggests that precedent is now vulnerable.

“It is very unlike HSBC to do anything like this. It suggests they clearly will go externally for the next chief exec,” said Richard Buxton, CEO of Merian Global Investors UK Ltd., which holds the bank’s shares. “Clearly the board feels it needs a fresh pair of eyes.”