HSBC Holdings Makes Boardroom Changes
Bermuda Stock Exchange-listed HSBC Holdings Limited — the world’s sixth-largest banking and financial services group — has made a regulatory announcement to the market regarding changes of directors to the board of the company.
Laura May Lung Cha has been appointed a director of HSBC Holdings plc with effect from 1 March 2011. She will be an independent non-executive director.
In addition, Vincent Cheng will retire as an executive director at HSBC’s annual general meeting on 28 May 2011 and will not seek re-election. He will retain an association with the group by taking on an advisory role to the Group Chief Executive on regional matters.
Mrs. Cha is non-executive deputy chairman of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited and a non-executive director of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited, Tata Consultancy Services Limited and China Telecom Corporation Limited. She is a Hong Kong delegate to the 11th National People‟s Congress of China, a non-official member of the Executive Council of Hong Kong SAR, vice-chairman of the International Advisory Council of the China Securities Regulatory Commission and chairman of the University Grants Committee and of the ICAC Advisory Committee on Corruption in Hong Kong.
She is a member of the Advisory Board of the Yale School of Management, and Millstein Center of Corporate Governance and Performance at Yale University, as well as Senior International Advisor for Foundation Asset Management AG.
Previously, Mrs Cha served as vice-chairman of CSRC between 2001 and 2004. She was the first person to be invited from outside mainland China to serve in the central government of the People‟s Republic of China. Before joining CSRC, Mrs Cha had 10 years experience at Hong Kong‟s capital markets regulator, the Securities and Futures Commission. Mrs Cha has also worked in the USA where she is a member of the State Bar of California.
Commenting on the appointment, Douglas Flint, HSBC Group Chairman, said: “Laura brings a rare breadth and depth of policymaking and regulatory experience spanning two of HSBC‟s most strategically important markets – Hong Kong and mainland China.
“We welcome her to the main board, where I have no doubt that her knowledge and expertise will further strengthen HSBC‟s position as Greater China‟s leading international bank.”
On Vincent Cheng’s retirement, Mr Flint continued: “Over his 33 years with HSBC, Vincent has made a huge contribution to the development of the strong and broadbased Asia platform we have today, in particular in laying the unrivalled foundations we have in China for the future. His knowledge of the region and representation of it at board have been a real asset to me and my fellow directors, and I am glad that we will continue to benefit from his valuable advice in Asia.”
Mrs Cha’s appointment will be for an initial three-year term which, subject to re-election by shareholders at the 2011 annual general meeting, will expire at the conclusion of the 2014 annual general meeting. The directors have determined that Mrs. Cha is independent. In making that determination the directors concluded that there are no relationships or circumstances which are likely to affect Mrs Cha’s judgement and anyrelationships or circumstances which could appear to do so were considered not to be material.
As a non-executive director Mrs Cha will not have a service contract with HSBC Holdings plc. She will be paid a director‟s fee of £65,000 per annum as authorised by shareholders at the 2006 annual general meeting.
