Fairhead to depart HSBC in reshuffle

RONA Fairhead, chairman of the BBC Trust, is to quit as a director of HSBC in a boardroom reshuffle.

Her departure was initially announced in April and confirmed yesterday. It comes in the wake of a row over her handling of a tax evasion scandal at the lender’s Swiss operations.

City grandee Sir Simon Robertson, who is deputy chairman, and US businesswoman Safra Catz, who serves as a non-executive, are stepping down at the same time.

Coming in the revolving door as independent directors are Henri de Castries, 61, the French boss of insurer AXA, and Paul Walsh, 60, former chief executive of drinks group Diageo.

HSBC (down 7.8p to 513.2p) has come under pressure from disgruntled shareholders to refresh its board after a disappointing financial performance and a string of scandals, including the Swiss tax evasion affair and a Mexican money-laundering scandal.

One or both of the new independent directors may be a candidate to become the next chairman.

The international lender has said it is breaking with its usual practice of seeking a chairman from within, and wants to appoint an outsider to replace Douglas Flint. However, chief executive Stuart Gulliver recently outlined a new strategy through to 2017 and insiders do not expect any rush for a new chairman to take office before then.

A row over Fairhead’s role broke out because she chaired HSBC’s audit committee and then its risk committee while some Swiss clients are said to have dodged tax. She failed to raise alarms about the tax scandal and was branded either ‘incredibly naive or totally incompetent’ by Margaret Hodge, chairman of the Commons public accounts committee, in a humiliating appearance in front of MPs.

She will quit at the 2016 annual meeting, which means she will have clung on for a full year after the tax scandal became public knowledge.