LONDON - HSBC Holdings PLC announced Friday that Stephen Green, a 21-year company veteran, will succeed Sir Keith Whitson as the chief executive.
Mr. Green, 54, will assume the post at the bank, Europe's largest by market value, when Sir Keith, 59, retires at the end of May, a spokesman said.
In addition to overseeing the other bank's businesses, Mr. Green will remain the head of the investment bank.
The change will come as HSBC embarks on its biggest acquisition ever: Sir John Bond, its executive chairman, is pursuing a $15.5 billion takeover of Household International Inc., which lends to 50 million consumers in 46 states.
The promotion may put Mr. Green in line to succeed Sir John, 61, who has run the 138-year-old company since 1998.
"We knew there would be a change at some point, and this looks like a straightforward succession," said David Bradbury, who helps manage $3.2 billion of U.K. equities at Canada Life Financial Corp.
Mr. Green's corporate, investment banking, and markets division generated $1.94 billion, or 36%, of HSBC's pretax profit in the first half of last year.
Sir Keith came to the bank out of college in 1961. He was appointed the CEO in 1998.
Sir John, who was knighted in 1999, is known for his emphasis on holding down costs. In response to a three-year market decline, Mr. Green did not pay most of his investment bankers bonuses for a second straight year in 2002.
Today HSBC is expected to report that its profits last year grew 28%, to $6.37 billion, because of less set-aside for bad loans, according to analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.
Also on Friday, HSBC appointed its information technology director, Alan Jebson, 53, to the newly created job of chief operating officer. He will report to Mr. Green.
