Sandy Flockhart plans to retire as of the end of this month from his role as an executive director of HSBC. He has been with the bank for 37 years.
Flockhart, 60, will remain on the board as a non-executive director and he will also retain his positions as chairman of HSBC Bank, the group's principal UK and European subsidiary, as chairman of HSBC Latin America and as a director of HSBC Bank Middle East. He will, however, give up his seat on the group management board.
Flockhart joined HSBC in 1974 and began his international career in the Middle East. He served as president and group managing director with responsibility for Latin America and the Caribbean, but readers in Asia may remember him best for taking over as CEO of Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp, HSBC’s Hong Kong and Asian operations, in 2007.
But Flockhart had worked in the Asia region before that, as CEO of HSBC Thailand from 1992 to 1994 and had also spent 12 years of his career in Hong Kong prior to that. In all, he has worked for HSBC in eight different countries.
He retained his position as Asia CEO until September 2009 when he was appointed chairman of personal and commercial banking, and also took charge of HSBC's Latin American and African businesses; technology, services and operations; and most group functions, including human resources, marketing and legal.
"Sandy has served the bank with dedication and distinction in a 37-year career spanning both developed and emerging markets. He retires at a point in time when commercial banking, the business with which he has been most associated, is the largest profit contributor to the group," Douglas Flint, group chairman, said in a written statement. "I would especially like to record the board's appreciation for his role in leading the development of our service capabilities to this hugely important customer segment. The board and I are extremely pleased that Sandy has agreed to stay on as a non-executive director so that we will be able to continue to draw on his depth of experience," he added.
Since he is not an independent director, Flockhart's appointment to the HSBC board will initially last until the 2013 annual general meeting. After that, it will be subject to his re-election by shareholders.
