HSBC appoints Mark Tucker as new chairman

It’s official: HSBC has appointed Mark Tucker to succeed Douglas Flint as the group’s new chairman.

The plan to hire Mr Tucker, which had been approved by regulators in the UK and Hong Kong, had been conditional on whether an agreement could be finalised between the two sides. The deal was confirmed in early morning Asia hours by filings from Asian insurer AIA and HSBC to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Mr Tucker will become a director and group chairman from September 1, and will take over as non-executive group chairman on October 1. At AIA, regional chief executive Ng Keng Hooi has been appointed group chief executive and president designate with immediate effect, and will succeed Mr Tucker as group chief executive and president from September 1.

The former AIA head, who has presided over a period when the insurer’s share price has more than doubled since its initial public offering in 2010, was first approached several weeks ago to replace Douglas Flint as HSBC chairman.

Mr Tucker will have plenty on his plate at the London-listed bank, which earns most of its profits in Asia, has missed a string of financial targets, is in the process of a hefty restructuring and saw its return on equity slump to less than 1 per cent last year. It will also soon need to identify a successor to Stuart Gulliver as chief executive.