HSBC considers naming first female CFO in bank’s 159-year history

HSBC is reportedly considering naming its first female chief financial officer in its 159-year history, with Pam Kaur said to be a favourite for one of the top jobs at Europe’s biggest bank.

Kaur, currently HSBC’s chief risk and compliance officer, has emerged as a leading candidate among several senior executives for the CFO role, Bloomberg News reported.

The post became vacant after Georges Elhedery succeeded Noel Quinn as the London-based bank’s chief executive on 2 September.

HSBC said when announcing Elhedery’s appointment in July that it would provide an update on his successor “in due course”.

Other potential candidates are said to include head of global banking and markets Greg Guyett, group head of strategy and corporate development Willard McLane and Kavita Mahtani, CFO of HSBC’s Europe and Western Markets arm.

It is understood that no final decision on the appointment has been made, and other candidates could still join the race.

HSBC declined to comment when approached by City A.M.

Kaur, 60, was appointed as HSBC’s chief risk officer in January 2020, later taking on responsibility for compliance in June 2021. She joined HSBC in 2013 as its head of internal audit.

She has worked for some of the world’s largest banks, including a 15-year stint at Citigroup, where she held several roles including global director of compliance for consumer banking.

Kaur was Deutsche Bank’s global head of group audit from 2011 to 2013. She has also worked for Lloyds Banking Group and RBS, and qualified as a chartered accountant at EY.

Elhedery has already overseen sweeping changes to the bank’s management and a deal to sell HSBC’s German private banking arm to BNP Paribas in a continuation of the lender’s pivot towards Asian markets.