HSBC names first female finance chief in major shakeup

HSBC has announced the appointment of its first female finance chief in the bank's 159-year history as its new boss shakes up the business.

Pam Kaur has worked at the bank for more than a decade and is currently its chief risk and compliance officer.

HSBC's chief executive, Georges Elhedery, also unveiled plans to overhaul the UK-based banking giant to "unleash our full potential and drive success into the future."

Mr Elhedery is under pressure to cut costs, increase profits and navigate tensions between China and the West.

As well as becoming HSBC's chief financial officer, Ms Kaur will also take up the role of executive director of the board, which is subject to election at the firm's next annual general meeting.

"We had a strong bench of internal and external candidates to choose from and Pam was the exceptional candidate," Mr Elhedery said.

Under the shakeup plan, the bank will create separate business units in the UK and Hong Kong. There will also be two other operations: “corporate and institutional banking” and “international wealth and premier banking”.

Business in these operations will fall into either “eastern markets”, which includes the Asia-Pacific region and the Middle East, or “western markets”, covering the UK, continental Europe and the Americas.

"The new structure will result in a simpler, more dynamic, and agile organisation as we focus on executing against our strategic priorities, which remain unchanged," Mr Elhedery said.