HSBC chief is forced to quit after 18 months

John Flint ousted by chairman as China piles pressure on the bank

HSBC was forced to deny that China was behind the shock ousting of its boss yesterday amid rising tensions between the bank and Beijing.

John Flint, who had been HSBC’s chief executive for less than 18 months, stepped down with immediate effect at the request of chairman Mark Tucker.

The departure sent shockwaves through the City last night and is likely to spark a power struggle for leadership of the bank, which employs 238,000 people in 65 countries.

Sources said that Flint’s departure was prompted by concerns over his leadership as the lender struggles to cope with turbulent markets.

But it was also speculated that pressure from the Chinese may have hastened the decision.

The bank clashed with China’s leadership earlier this year after it emerged that it had helped US prosecutors apply for the extradition of Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Chinese telecoms giant Huawei.

HSBC, which has been operating in China for more than 153 years, denied Beijing was involved in Flint’s ousting.

The bank’s chairman Mark Tucker said: ‘We remain very confident both of our businesses in Hong Kong and China, and our business operations continue as normal.’

The bank blamed an increasingly challenging global economic and political environment for Flint’s ousting, but an insider said that during his short tenure, 51-year-old Flint ( pictured) had failed to impress his top- ranking colleagues.

Shares have stumbled since Flint took over, and City sources raised concerns that he was not particularly visible.

Tucker denied reports of boardroom unrest, and said: ‘There’s been no personality clash, no disagreement over strategy. Flint was the best decision at the time and he’s done a good job. But the board believes this was the time for a change.’

HSBC risks becoming a pawn in a trade war between the US and China after it shared information with America suggesting Huawei was breaching sanctions against doing business in Iran – prompting the arrest of Wanzhou, the telecom firm’s chief finance officer, in Canada.

HSBC executives are thought to have felt compelled to share the information after the bank was nearly barred from doing business in the US in 2012 over money laundering claims.

Flint, who has agreed to remain available to HSBC, will continue to earn his £1.2m base salary for at least the next year. He still holds 18,524 shares, worth £116,108, and could be in line for another 1.2m. Flint will still be considered for an annual bonus, which could be over £1m. His interim replacement is Noel Quinn, head of HSBC’s commercial banking unit. The boardroom shake-up came as London-based HSBC announced more than 4,000 job cuts, mainly among senior roles. In the UK, HSBC has set aside another £506m to pay PPI mis-selling victims.

Profits were up 15.8pc year-onyear in the first six months of 2019, to £10.2bn, while revenue climbed 7.6pc higher to £24bn.

But HSBC’s predictions of slower growth weighed on investors’ minds, and shares slid by 3pc or 19.3p to 626.8p.