HSBC names Assaf as global head of investment banking

STUART Gulliver, chief executive-elect of HSBC, has appointed Samir Assaf as his successor as the global head of the bank's successful investment arm.

Assaf, a capital markets veteran of 23 years and currently HSBC's head of global markets, becomes chief executive of the bank's global banking and markets business from 1 January.

Gulliver takes over from the departing Michael Geoghegan as group chief executive on the same date.

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Gulliver said: "We have built a world-class wholesale banking operation over the last decade, one of the few to emerge from the financial crisis with its reputation and market position enhanced.

"I have worked with Samir for the last eight years and know his exceptional talent and experience mean that I leave the business in hugely capable hands."

Lebanese-born Assaf, 50, has been with HSBC - Britain's biggest bank - since its takeover of Credit Commercial de France in 2000, and became its head of global markets three years ago.

He was educated at France's top universities and began his career in oil giant Total's finance department where he ended up as head of treasury.

He lives in London with his wife and four children. Assaf was described by a fellow banker as "very softly spoken with an old-fashioned courtesy and an incredibly sharp mind". He speaks French, Spanish, English and Arabic.

Amid a raft of further internal appointments at HSBC yesterday, Jos-Luis Guerrero and Spencer Lake will become joint heads of global markets, which houses debt capital markets, asset and structured finance, as well as trading.

Robin Phillips and Kevin Adeson will be joint heads of global banking, where equity capital markets sit, as well as leveraged and acquisition finance.

HSBC has said it wants its investment banking division to eventually contribute a third of group profits.

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