Good morning. HSBC Holdings Plc, in business for 159 years, is making history in its C-suite as it embarks on a company reorganization. Pam Kaur was promoted to CFO—the first woman in the role, the bank announced on Tuesday. She will begin her tenure as chief financial officer and an executive director of the board of directors on Jan. 1.
Kaur joined HSBC in April 2013 and went on to hold several leadership roles, most recently, chief risk and compliance officer. She succeeds the former CFO, Georges Elhedery, who was promoted to CEO.
HSBC has also landed at the No. 12 spot on the 2024 Fortune 500 Europe list announced this morning. The London-based bank has 42 million customers in 62 countries, with Hong Kong and Britain being its biggest markets by some margin. Its growth focus is back in Asia—particularly mainland China, Singapore, India, and the UAE—and internationally mobile customers, who already represent a sixth of its total.
In fact, HSBC has also announced a reorganization of the bank into four business divisions with “clear lines of responsibility”: Hong Kong, U.K., corporate and institutional banking, and international wealth and premier banking. Its geographical setup is revised with “Eastern markets,” comprising Asia and the Middle East, and “Western markets,” grouping the U.K., Europe and the Americas.
It’s no wonder HSBC elevated Kaur to CFO as she’s a financial services executive with almost 40 years of international experience. She has worked in the U.K. and the U.S. for British, American, and German banks. Some former roles include global head of group audit for Deutsche Bank; CFO and COO of the restructuring and risk division of Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc; and chief compliance officer at Citigroup International.
Kaur will receive a base salary of about $1.04 million per year, and a fixed pay allowance of approximately $1.4 million per year. She will also get a pension allowance of $104,269.55 per year equal to 10% of her base salary.
Russell Reynolds Associates' (RRA) Global CFO Turnover index found that in the first six months of 2024, of the 163 CFOs appointed globally, 44 were women. The number of women appointed as CFOs globally reached a five-year high. However, women remain underrepresented in the role, according to the firm.
Kaur’s LinkedIn bio states that she's a “passionate supporter of diversity and inclusion and proud to be the executive sponsor for HSBC’s Global Ethnicity Inclusion program.” She also writes that she was born in India, graduated from the Punjab University with an MBA in finance, and lives in London with her husband.
Sir Mark Tucker, HSBC group chairman, said in a statement that Kaur is "highly respected and well known to the board and was the unanimous choice."
There was a strong bench of internal and external candidates and Kaur was “the exceptional candidate,” Elhedery said in a statement.
Elhedery's promotion to chief executive at HSBC was announced in July and he officially began the role on Sept. 2. Elhedery joined the company in 2005 becoming CFO in early 2023. Before that, he held positions such as co-CEO of global banking and markets, gaining operational and strategic experience, which experts say can lead to CFOs being tapped for the chief executive role at a company.
Elhedery noted that Kaur, as CFO, will become his strategic partner. “I look forward to partnering with her for the next stage of the bank’s growth and development,” he said in a statement.
Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com
The following sections of CFO Daily were curated by Greg McKenna
