HSBC May Choose Chairman This Month

HSBC Holdings PLC is likely to pick a successor to Chairman Stephen Green before the end of the month, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.

The board of Europe's biggest bank may make the decision at a previously scheduled meeting in Shanghai in late September, said the person, who declined to be identified because the discussions are private.

"The board expects to be in a position to approve a succession to Mr. Green by the end of the year and that timetable remains on schedule," said Adrian Russell, a spokesman for HSBC, of London. He declined to comment further on the date of any decision.

HSBC's independent directors, led by Simon Robertson, a former Goldman Sachs Europe president, are weighing whether to follow the bank's tradition of promoting chief executives to the post of chairman, or bowing to U.K. corporate governance guidelines and naming an independent chairman, the person said.

If the board decides against promoting CEO Michael Geoghegan, the most likely candidate to succeed Green is John Thornton, a former Goldman Sachs president who is the chairman of HSBC's North American division, the person said.

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