Wanted: Chairman HSBC.

Stephen Green's announcement of his intentions to accept a role in government has left HSBC to do an enormous job in deciding who will be the next chairman. Leaving aside the debate of appointing an unelected person as a government minister to represent the peoples interest. (maybe another blog ?) Should they just promote Geoghegan , who is heavily involved in refocusing HSBC's core areas into the Emerging Markets in Asia (and an HSBC Veteran) or go for the numerous rivals touted by the papers as potential candidates. Conventional Corporate Governance does not look favorably on the appointment of the CEO as Chairman of the same company for obvious reasons. The heavy involvement of Geohegan in HSBC might be the factor that works against him. However, that has not stopped HSBC in the past when they appointed Stephen Green as chairman from CEO in 2003. So will HSBC repeat itself ? Will their new Chairman move the banks HQ back to HK ? With the raise in taxes and renewed focus in emerging markets, the repeated murmuring from large Banks of making the move is just political maneuvering in my opinion . I personally don't believe they will move just yet but if they do it will be a big blow for the present coalition government.

HSBC Chief Geoghegan Should Spurn Any Offer Chairmanship, Analysts Say - Bloomberg