HSBC Chairman Mark Tucker is keeping his options open as he chooses a chief executive, potentially to the detriment of the $150 billion bank. He is considering UniCredit CEO Jean Pierre Mustier as well as interim boss Noel Quinn for the role, according to news reports. The public race is difficult for Quinn. Worse, it risks undermining the big overhaul he unveiled only three days ago.

Mustier’s name crops up in most conversations about European bank CEO positions: Deutsche Bank in 2018 and Société Générale earlier this year. Yet reports late on Thursday linking him with the HSBC job may be more credible. Tucker has kept Quinn’s “interim” moniker firmly in place since the Englishman replaced John Flint in August last year. Mustier may be tempted by the chance to run a bank that’s more than four times the size of his current Milan-based charge. He has mostly completed a gruelling revamp, and there are no juicy deals on the horizon so it could be a natural time for him to move on.

But he would be an odd choice for HSBC. Mustier has limited experience in Asia, which accounts for half of HSBC’s revenue. The ambitious Frenchman might also clash with the London-based bank’s culture, which is frequently likened to Britain’s civil service. Former brash outsiders like Matthew Westerman, who joined as co-head of global banking from Goldman Sachs, fared poorly and ended up leaving within two years after what bank insiders describe as “organ rejection”.

Still, Mustier’s presence on Tucker’s shortlist may hamper Quinn’s authority. That’s a problem given the interim boss on Tuesday announced a revamp that will shift about $100 billion of risk-weighted assets away from slow-growing regions like Europe and towards Asia. Roughly 35,000 jobs could go many in the London head office. That sort of overhaul is difficult to push through if staff think someone else may soon be in charge.

All the more so since Mustier is likely to have his own ideas of what HSBC needs. It’s hard to see him simply following someone else’s plan. Tucker’s interest in him therefore further muddies the outlook for the strategic plan, and raises the prospect that HSBC’s restructuring may eventually be restructured itself.

CONTEXT NEWS

- UniCredit Chief Executive Jean Pierre Mustier has emerged as one of the main external candidates for the top job at HSBC, Bloomberg reported on Feb. 20 citing sources familiar with the matter.

- Mustier has been in talks with HSBC about the job, according to the report, although the board is still undecided and is considering candidates including the bank's interim chief, Noel Quinn.

- Quinn took the interim role after HSBC ousted John Flint as CEO in August 2019 due to differences of opinion with Chairman Mark Tucker.

- HSBC said on Feb. 18 that it would shed $100 billion in risk-weighted assets from its balance sheet, slashing the size of its investment bank and overhauling underperforming U.S. and European operations in a shakeup that will see 35,000 jobs cut over three years.

- HSBC shares were down 0.3% at 0825 GMT on Feb. 21. UniCredit shares were down 2.8%.

(Editing by Swaha Pattanaik and Karen Kwok)

© Reuters News 2020