"HSBC is increasingly run by people who've joined from Citi"
"While HSBC is cutting costs and laying off hundreds of bankers, it seems that one particular group of people at the bank are safe: those who joined from Citi.
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HSBC has hired many people from Citi and they have formed a powerful network. This is particularly evident in the Global Foreign Exchange (GFX) division, which was until recently led by Richard Bibbey, who joined HSBC from Citi in 2016. The FX division includes various other ex-Citi people, like Stephane Knauf, head of FX structuring, who joined from Citi in 2015, Chirag Patel, who joined from Citi in 2020 and who is global head of FX and PMO trading. Knauf hired his former Citi Stephane Bataille in 2021 and Patel has brought in his old Citi team members, Chris Cavanagh and Jeff Haessler.
That's just FX. Citi veterans are also occupy key management positions across the bank. Stuart Riley, the group CIO joined from Citi in 2024. Michael Roberts joined from Citi in 2019 and quickly hired Gerry Keefe, his execution henchman. Roberts and Keefe are both running the corporate and institutional bank out of London. Now with Richard Bibbey recently relocating to London to run global institutional sales, it seems only a matter of time before the sales team becomes dominated by former Citi bankers too.
It's a difficult situation for legacy HSBC people. People who have been loyal to HSBC for years are being let go or left to languish on an interminable list waiting for promotion. Meamwhile, it seems that ex-Citi people are safe and are often made managing director. It may just be coincidence, but people have noticed. There's a sense that the ex-Citi clique is in charge and no one wants to say anything because everyone here is afraid of losing their jobs."
Samuel Bassot is the pseudonym of an HSBC insider who asked to remain anonymous
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