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When Peter Wang announced his retirement this week after ten years as CEO of HSBC Asia, he told employees that turning crisis into opportunity was “embedded” in the bank’s DNA.
HSBC in trouble A series of crises In the past 10 years, in Europe, the United States, and South America, Wong has quietly paved the way for Europe’s largest banks to enter Hong Kong’s wealthiest circles and Beijing’s power corridors.
During his time as CEO of Asia, 8 dollars of every 10 dollars of profit of the bank came from the region, but half of its loan books and more than two-thirds of its capital were deployed in Europe and the United States.
Now, the growth of China and Hong Kong has become the core of their global strategy, and more than $100 billion in capital has been redistributed to the region. HSBC’s US operations and some European operations have been closed or sold.
Huang’s connections with the Hong Kong business elite and the Chinese Communist Party are crucial. Allies said the veteran Hong Kong banker has become an “indispensable part” of HSBC-he will continue to assume the new role of the bank’s Hong Kong chairman, a position traditionally held by the global chief executive.
However, the 69-year-old man fell into his own crisis last year when he compromised the cautious political neutrality of HSBC for more than a century. Sign the petition Support Beijing in implementing strict national security laws in Hong Kong. This won acclaim in Beijing, but it made Huang Zhifeng’s name appear in the sight of angry politicians in Westminster and Washington.
“This has caused serious difficulties for Noel Quinn and Mark Tucker,” said a former HSBC board member, referring to the bank’s chief executive and chairman respectively. “Since Peter signed the NSL petition, the focus has been on his political relationship, but this has been detrimental to his 40-year career as an outstanding banker.”
The fate of HSBC has been intertwined with China. Wong’s relationship with the Communist Party—he is a member of its core political advisory body—is a huge benefit for the bank. After HSBC provided documents to US prosecutors investigating the alleged violation of sanctions by the Chinese technology group Huawei, he eased tensions with Beijing.
“The Chinese government considers him a friend and a trustworthy person,” said Sir David Lee, executive chairman of the Bank of East Asia and Hong Kong’s most senior banker. Hong Kong Legislative Council Member Carrie Lam said: “HSBC is between two hot spots: the mainland and the United States. Peter handles it very well-dealing with this kind of conflict requires skill.”
In 2005, when HSBC realized that it had few senior managers from Hong Kong or China, Mr. Wang was also a trusted friend and banker of Hong Kong tycoons such as Sir Li Ka-shing, Zheng Zhigang and Aaron Kwok. He was poached by Standard Chartered Bank. He has become the chairman of the influential banking association in the region and in the business and political circles of mainland China.
Powerful friends who are deeply involved in Hong Kong politics call him a “diplomat” and “do not talk nonsense.”
“He speaks very little, but he does what he says when he speaks,” said Li of the Bank of East Asia. Peter Ma, chairman of the Chinese insurance company Ping An, the largest shareholder of HSBC, described Wang as an “old politician” in the Asian international banking industry.
As the chairman of the former Hong Kong bank, Huang will maintain his position in Hong Kong taipans ——The most respected businessman in the city.Although he will be replaced as the head of Asia And two junior colleagues, He will continue to live in the Taipan Building, which is where HSBC spent US$73 million on the top of the city’s exclusive hill for its senior local executives.
More importantly, he will play a key role in shaping Hong Kong’s future as an international financial center. Since the outbreak of violent democratic protests in 2019 and the introduction of a national security law last year, Hong Kong has been forced to defend its reputation as a global financial center.
Ren Zhigang, a current member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council and Hong Kong’s first central bank governor, said that Huang Zhifeng spent hours discussing issues that are “critical to our future as an international financial center.”
“People blame [Hong Kong] It’s becoming more and more like China,” he added. “It’s stupid-Peter can see this. He does not have the problematic culture we see on Wall Street, where financial institutions have become selfish rather than serving the economy. “
HSBC does not have a retirement age, so Huang’s departure time has raised questions.An insider linked it to the relocation decision Four global business leaders From London to Hong Kong later this year.
“Peter has a lot of independence in history, now there will be a lot of people on the 34th floor of 1 Queen’s Road Central [HSBC’s historic local headquarters] I bumped into him and tried to attach myself to Hong Kong’s very strong income statement,” the person said.
“Hong Kong’s status and face are very important,” said a former HSBC executive. “So it is super sweet to be awarded the title of chairman of the former bank of Hong Kong.”
In announcing Huang’s retirement, Quinn said that his work with Huang “helped shape my belief that HSBC has a bright future as a global bank that connects East and West.”
As a mediator between HSBC, Mainland China, Hong Kong and the rest of the world (including sometimes turbulent emerging markets), Huang is accustomed to navigating through conflicts. With the increasing importance of mainland China to HSBC, there may be more geopolitical fires that need to be extinguished.
A former HSBC boss said: “We have been guests from other countries throughout our lives in the bank.” “It is not surprising that crises happen frequently.”
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