Naguib Kheraj, the Metropolis veteran, has been shortlisted to turn out to be the subsequent chairman of HSBC Holdings, Europe’s largest financial institution.
HSBC, which has a market capitalisation of £165.4bn, has been conducting a seek for Sir Mark’s successor for the reason that begin of the yr.
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Mr Kheraj would, in lots of respects, be seen as a stable selection for the job.
He’s acquainted with HSBC’s core markets in Asia, having spent a number of years on the board of Customary Chartered, the FTSE-100 financial institution, latterly as deputy chairman.
He additionally possesses intensive expertise as a boss, having led the privately held pensions insurer Rothesay Life, whereas he now chairs Petershill Companions, the London-listed personal fairness funding group backed by Goldman Sachs.
Mr Kheraj’s different pursuits have included performing as an adviser to the Aga Khan Improvement Board and The Wellcome Belief, in addition to the Monetary Companies Authority.
He spent 12 years at Barclays, holding board roles for a lot of that point, earlier than he went on to turn out to be chief govt of JP Morgan Cazenove, the London-based funding financial institution.
HSBC’s shares have soared during the last yr, rising by near 50%, regardless of the headwinds posed by President Donald Trump’s sweeping international tariffs regime.
In June, the financial institution mentioned that Sir Mark would get replaced on an interim foundation by Brendan Nelson, one in every of its current board members, whereas it continued the seek for a everlasting successor.
Ann Godbehere, HSBC’s senior impartial director, mentioned on the time: “The nomination and corporate governance committee continues to make progress on the succession process for the next HSBC group chair.
“Our focus is on securing the perfect candidate to guide the board and wider group over the subsequent section of our progress and improvement.”
Since then, at least one other firm has been drafted in to work on the mandate.
Sir Mark, who has chaired HSBC since 2017, steps down at the end of next month to become non-executive chair of AIA, the Asian insurer he used to run.
He will continue to advise HSBC’s board during the hunt for his long-term successor.
As a financial behemoth with deep ties to both China and the US, HSBC is deeply exposed to escalating trade and diplomatic tensions between the two countries.
When he was appointed, Mr Tucker became the first outsider to take the post in the bank’s 152-year history – which has a big presence on the high street thanks to its acquisition of the Midland Bank in 1992.
He oversaw a rapid change of leadership, appointing bank veteran John Flint to replace Stuart Gulliver as chief executive.
The transition did not work out, however, with Mr Tucker deciding to sack Mr Flint after just 18 months.
He was replaced on an interim basis by Noel Quinn in the summer of 2018, with that change becoming permanent in April 2020.
Mr Quinn spent a further four years in the post before deciding to step down, and in July 2024 he was succeeded by Georges Elhedery, a long-serving executive in HSBC’s markets unit, and more recently the bank’s chief financial officer.
The new chief’s first big move in the top job was to unveil a sweeping reorganisation of HSBC that sees it reshaped into eastern markets and western markets businesses.
He also decided to merge its commercial and investment banking operations into a single division.
The restructuring, which Mr Elhedery said would “end in a less complicated, extra dynamic, and agile organisation” has drawn a combined response from analysts, though it has not interrupted a robust run for the inventory.
Throughout Sir Mark’s tenure, HSBC has additionally continued to exit non-core markets, promoting operations in nations similar to Canada and France because it has sharpened its deal with its Asian companies.
On Friday, HSBC’s London-listed shares closed at 946.7p.
HSBC has been contacted for remark.
