Stephen Green (banker)
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Stephen Green (born 7 November 1948) is Group Chairman of HSBC Holdings plc. Green was educated at Lancing College and Exeter College, Oxford and received a master's degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
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[edit] Career
Green began his career with the British Government's Ministry of Overseas Development. In 1977 he joined McKinsey & Co Inc., management consultants, with whom he undertook assignments in Europe, North America and the Middle East.
He joined The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited in 1982 with responsibility for corporate planning activities, and, in 1985, was put in charge of the development of the bank's global treasury operations. In 1992 he became Group Treasurer of HSBC Holdings plc, with responsibility for the HSBC Group's treasury and capital markets businesses globally.
In March 1998 Green was appointed to the Board of HSBC Holdings plc as Executive Director, Investment Banking and Markets responsible for the investment banking, private banking and asset management activities of the Group. He assumed additional responsibility for the Group's corporate banking business in May 2002. His appointment as Group Chief Executive took effect on 1 June 2003. Green oversaw the acquisition and integration of the U.S. consumer-finance group Household International, which represented HSBC's largest acquisition in a series of acquisitions made in the five years prior to Green's appointment as CEO.
In January 2005 Green became Chairman of HSBC Bank plc. On 28 November 2005 HSBC announced that he would become Group Chairman when Sir John Bond retired on 26 May 2006.
[edit] Other
Some of his other directorships include The Bank of Bermuda Limited, HSBC Mexico, SA and The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited. He is also Chairman of HSBC Private Banking Holdings (Suisse) SA and HSBC North America Holdings Inc., Deputy Chairman of HSBC Trinkaus & Burkhardt AG and is a board member of HSBC France.
Green is married to Janian and has two daughters, Ruth and Suzie. He is an ordained minister in the Church of England [5] and is the author of the book Serving God? Serving Mammon? [6]. On the 7th July 2005 he was appointed a Trustee of the British Museum [7]. Green has a sister called Elizabeth who lives in the USA and a brother, George Francis Green, who is a Professor of Economics at the University of Kent.
[edit] Quotes
"With the benefit of hindsight, this is an acquisition we wish we had not undertaken," Stephen Green, HSBC's chairman, said, referring to HSBC's $15Bn acquisition of the sub-prime lender Household International in 2003.[1]
Green on the banking industry:
"The industry has done many things wrong. It is important to remember that many ordinary bankers have always sought to provide good service to their customers; but we must also recognise that there have been too many who have profoundly damaged the industry's reputation."[2]
"Underlying all these events is a question about the culture and ethics of the industry. It is as if, too often, people had given up asking whether something was the right thing to do, and focused only whether it was legal and complied with the rules. The industry needs to recover a sense of what is right and suitable as a key impulse for doing business."[3]
McKinsey News (March 20, 2006) quoted Green saying this on making acquisitions: "We use four criteria when approaching acquisitions – financial value creation, client and product portfolio synergies, systems integration, and the fourth is ‘culture.’ We ask, ‘will the cultures mesh? Is there a good human fit in the way we do business?’ We consider this very seriously because we know that a cultural clash would be devastating for our shared ethos."[4]
| Business positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Keith Whitson |
Chief Executive of HSBC Group 2003–2006 |
Succeeded by Michael Geoghegan |
| Preceded by John Bond |
Chairman of HSBC Group 2006–present |
Incumbent |
