Quintessential HSBC Insider Takes the Helm
October 12 2017 - 10:29AM
Dow Jones News
By Margot Patrick
When a teenage John Flint decided he wanted to become a banker,
his high school headmaster wrote to a contact at HSBC Holdings PLC
for advice. The reply came back: young Flint should go to college,
then enter HSBC's international officers program and prepare to
travel the world.
Mr. Flint, now 49, duly did both. On Thursday, he was named by
HSBC Chairman Mark Tucker as the bank's new chief executive,
replacing Stuart Gulliver, in a vote for continuity at the
Asia-focused bank and for Mr. Flint's homegrown values.
To get the top spot, Mr. Flint saw off rivals from inside and
outside the bank. Mr. Tucker's outsider status, he is the bank's
first externally-hired chairman, meant analysts expected the new
CEO to be Mr. Flint or another internal candidate. In an interview
with The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Tucker--who started this month,
breaking with a century-old tradition of the bank promoting from
within--said Mr. Flint is "the best and optimal fit" for the
job.
Now the head of retail banking and wealth management, Mr. Flint
is quintessentially HSBC. After joining its international
leadership program out of college, he learned the ropes in bank
branches, trading rooms and at the bank's treasury department, in
cities including Hong Kong, London, New York and Bangkok. The
assignments often had him working alongside Mr. Gulliver, and he
was the outgoing CEO's chief of staff for a year before taking his
current role in 2013.
Colleagues describe Mr. Flint as sharp, capable and
mild-mannered, with some of the same instinct and skill Mr.
Gulliver is known for in managing risk and market shocks. Those
skills were honed in Asia's financial crisis in the 1990s, when a
young Mr. Flint was head of global markets at the bank's Indonesian
arm and led it to profits despite the turmoil.
As part of HSBC's elite cadre of international officers--later
rebranded by the bank as international managers to drop the
military connotation--Mr. Flint moved up the ranks and has long
been seen as a possible CEO.
He is expected to continue on much the same track as Mr.
Gulliver with respect to the bank's strategy. Mr. Tucker said
elements of it may be "enhanced and accelerated." Efforts already
under way include investing more in Asia and rebuilding
profitability in the U.S. and Mexico. HSBC made a disastrous foray
into the U.S. in the early 2000s, buying a large subprime lender
just before the financial crisis. Its business in the country is
now a mix of retail branches in key markets such as New York and
California, and commercial and investment banking.
Mr. Flint, who as a child lived in Saudi Arabia for 11 years
while his father was a teacher there, has "vision and passion" for
HSBC, Mr. Tucker said. HSBC said Mr. Flint wasn't available for an
interview Thursday.
In a statement, Mr. Flint said he was humbled and excited. He
said the bank "must continue to innovate and accelerate" its pace
of change.
Last year, Mr. Flint traveled with other HSBC executives and
research analysts from other banks and brokers on a trip through
China's Pearl River Delta region. One analyst who hadn't met him
before said he was struck by his down-to-earth manner and
self-deprecating humor, which the analyst said was a contrast to
Mr. Gulliver. Mr. Gulliver, 58, said in March he would retire in
2018. He also has been at the bank his entire career, and he too
came up through the international managers' program.
Analysts say Mr. Flint and Mr. Tucker, who started as chairman
Oct. 1, should enjoy some positive momentum as they take their
roles. Rising interest rates are boosting returns on HSBC's large
deposit base, while much of the heavy lifting around improving
compliance systems and exiting loss-making businesses is done
now.
Write to Margot Patrick at margot.patrick@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 12, 2017 10:14 ET (14:14 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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