Chinese handover masks turmoil at HSBC
It was all smiles for the press today as the board of HSBC met at the bank's new China head office in Shanghai.
The group had their the first meeting since last week's massive management shake-up which saw investment banking chief, Stuart Gulliver, crowned as the next chief executive.
HSBC has threatened to move its headquarters from London if reforms force banks to split their retail and investment banking businesses.
Stephen Green, outgoing chairman of HSBC, said the bank had no plans to move its headquarters to Hong Kong but added "there is no country strategically more important to us than China". The old guard and the new guard stood side by side.
Chief executive Michael Geoghegan who is taking early retirement said of his and Green's respective replacements — Gulliver and Douglas Flint: "They will be awesome. The company is in excellent hands."
