HSBC Holdings Plc is considering appointing its first female finance director in its 159-year history, with Pam Kaur emerging as a leading candidate among several senior executives for one of the top jobs in global banking.
Chief risk and compliance officer Kaur, 60, is said to be a favourite for the chief financial officer role that became vacant after Georges Elhedery replaced Noel Quinn on September 2 as chief executive officer of Europe’s largest lender, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
Other potential candidates include Greg Guyett, head of global banking and markets, Willard McLane, group head of strategy and corporate development, and Kavita Mahtani, CFO of HSBC’s Europe and Western Markets, the people said, declining to be identified discussing non-public information.
No final decision has been made and other candidates could still join the race, the people said. A representative for HSBC declined to comment. HSBC has said it’s looking for a permanent CFO to succeed Elhedery, who’s set out to stamp his own mark on the lender as its new boss.
As central banks around the world cut interest rates-moves that will eat away at the revenue of big, global lenders like HSBC-Elhedery will have to find a way to shave off $2 billion in costs in order to sustain a key measure of the bank’s profits, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.
Kaur has worked for several of the world’s largest banks, including Citigroup Inc, where she held a variety of roles including global director of compliance for consumer banking, and Deutsche Bank AG, where she was global head of group audit.