HSBC’s Revamp of Key Asia Division Costs Women Senior Roles

(Bloomberg) — A global overhaul at HSBC Holdings Plc has seen female executives in Asia lose out after the lender asked managers to reapply for senior roles in the combined corporate and institutional banking unit.

Two women, Christina Ma, head of global banking for Asia-Pacific, and Amanda Murphy, who’s in charge of commercial banking for South and Southeast Asia, were in the running to lead the merged unit for Asia and Middle East, according to people familiar with the matter. They both lost and Ma is leaving the bank.

Out of at least 15 new banking head roles named across Asia-Pacific, only two went to women — Hajrah Sakauloo, chief executive officer and head of banking for Mauritius, and Priya Kini, who oversees seven smaller markets including Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Philippines. At HSBC’s priority markets of Singapore, China and India, the top banking jobs all went to men, while in most of the smaller markets, the incumbent country head, mostly male, got the banking role.

Some of the appointments came as a surprise and are being discussed internally among staff, other people said. The restructuring and lack of detailed public reporting from HSBC on the gender balance in senior Asia roles within the division make it difficult to compare the current mix to the one pre-shakeup.

HSBC integrated its commercial and global banking business in 2024 and asked hundreds of managers to reapply for jobs in the new unit, run by Michael Roberts, a former Citigroup Inc. banker. Georges Elhedery, who took the helm as overall CEO last year, is streamlining the Asia-focused bank to cut costs, complexity and job duplication.

When asked for comment, a HSBC spokesman directed Bloomberg News to Elhedery’s comments on the bank’s diversity and inclusion policy during its latest earnings call. The chief executive told reporters in February that inclusivity remains “a key priority” for the lender and it has delivered better outcomes for customers by having a culture that’s “anchored in” diverse thinking, experience and background.

HSBC’s new corporate and institutional banking division, which houses the investment bank and the trading business, is a key money-spinner. It contributed $11.4 billion in pretax profits globally, or 35% of the group’s total.

The bank has appointed women leaders in other parts of its business. In October, it named Pam Kaur its first female chief financial officer. In Asia, Luanne Lim is the chief executive officer for Hong Kong, its biggest market, while Diana Cesar leads Hang Seng Bank, a Hong Kong-listed unit.

Meanwhile, other senior female executives leaving HSBC’s corporate and institutional bank include Rachel Watson, co-head of leveraged and acquisition finance for Asia Pacific. Her counterpart Ashish Sharma will become sole head for the region.

Selene Chong, head of equities for Asia-Pacific, went on a sabbatical earlier this year, and Kenneth Hon took up her role, in addition to heading the prime financing business for Asia.

On a broader level, HSBC is in line with its peers in terms of female representation. Women at the bank held 34.6% of senior leadership roles in 2024, up from 34.1% the previous year. That compares with 33.1% of women in similar roles at Standard Chartered Plc in 2024 and nearly 30% of management at JPMorgan Chase & Co., according to the banks.

Recent senior female appointments within HSBC include New York-based Danielle Johnson, global head of institutional clients, and Doris Wong, managing director, global corporates, Hong Kong and Noor Adhami, head of global network banking, based in Dubai.

Separately, HSBC’s US peers have been pulling back from diversity initiatives in the wake of political and legal pressures in the country.

–With assistance from Ambereen Choudhury and Cathy Chan.

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