HSBC Taps Goldman Sachs for New Head of Financial Institutions Group--Update
October 05 2018 - 10:58AM
Dow Jones News
By Margot Patrick
LONDON -- HSBC Holdings PLC on Friday said it has hired longtime
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker Peter Enns as the global head of
its financial institutions group, a senior hire for the bank six
weeks after a group claiming to comprise employees complained to
the bank's board about a struggle to attract talent.
Mr. Enns was most recently the chairman and chief executive of
Goldman Sachs in Canada and held posts in Asia and the U.S. over 21
years at the U.S. bank. He'll start at HSBC in the newly created
role later this month.
The anonymous group, in an Aug. 25 memo to the bank's board,
claimed that HSBC can't recruit and hold on to top-tier staff in
the global banking business.
The memo, which HSBC is treating as a whistleblower complaint,
attacked the co-head of global banking Robin Phillips, citing a
litany of alleged failings in his work and leadership.
Mr. Phillips hasn't commented publicly on the matter, but HSBC
said it is proud of the global banking business and of what Mr.
Phillips and his senior team have achieved in the past few
years.
In a memo sent to his group Friday and seen by The Wall Street
Journal, Mr. Phillips said Mr. Enns "will work with the regional
heads of FIG to build and deepen our relationships across the
client base." HSBC has an "increasingly deep bench of expertise
across our franchise," Mr. Phillips said in a press release.
Mr. Enns advised on a number of deals during his tenure at
Goldman, including the $20.5 billion initial public offering of AIA
Group Ltd. in 2010, and the $15 billion sale of Wachovia in Wells
Fargo in 2008. Goldman didn't immediately return calls for comment
on Mr. Enns's departure or replacement.
HSBC sought to bolster its global banking business in 2016 by
hiring Matthew Westerman, another senior Goldman banker, as co-head
of banking with Mr. Phillips. He left abruptly last year after 18
months, with no reason given for the departure by him or the
bank.
At the time, people familiar with the matter said he faced
something close to a staff revolt because of his sometimes-abrasive
management style. No formal complaints were lodged against him
though, according to one of the people. The co-head role remains
vacant.
Write to Margot Patrick at margot.patrick@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 05, 2018 10:43 ET (14:43 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
HSBC (NYSE:HSBC)
Historical Stock Chart
From Aug 2024 to Sep 2024
HSBC (NYSE:HSBC)
Historical Stock Chart
From Sep 2023 to Sep 2024