THE HONGKONG and Shanghai Banking Corp. on Monday named a new president and CEO for its Philippine operations after its former chief left the bank to head a local lender.
In a statement sent to reporters on Monday, the global bank said it has appointed Graham FitzGerald as the new president and chief executive officer of HSBC Philippines, with the effective date subject to approval.
Mr. FitzGerald is currently the senior executive of International, a unit that has oversight over HSBC Group’s 10 network markets in Asia.
In 2016, he took over as CEO of HSBC Brunei in 2016 until mid-2018.
Prior to this, he also worked in several roles for HSBC in countries like New Zealand, United Kingdom and Hong Kong. Mr. FitzGerald was HSBC’s regional chief operating officer in the United Arab Emirates and was also regional banking head for HSBC’s commercial banking business in the Middle East North Africa region.
Peter Wong, HSBC Deputy Chairman and Chief Executive for Asia Pacific, said Mr. FitzGerald’s international banking experience and strong expertise in client relationship management will be invaluable to the bank.
“The Philippines is a key country for us, important as part of the (HSBC) Group’s much valued international network and for its place within the ASEAN bloc,” Mr. Wong was quoted as saying in the statement.
Mr. FitzGerald will replace Jose Arnulfo “Wick” A. Veloso who stepped down from his post in August to serve as the new president and CEO of the Tan-controlled Philippine National Bank (PNB) effective Nov. 16.
Mr. Veloso, the first Filipino who held HSBC Philippines’ presidency, was hired by PNB after its current chief Reynaldo A. Maclang decided to retire from his post. Mr. Maclang will continue to serve as a board advisor of PNB.
“We wish to thank Wick for his 24 years with the Group and for his leadership in the Philippines since 2012,” Mr. Wong added.
HSBC has been in the Philippines for 143 years and is a leading international bank in the country. Currently, it has 10 branches in the country located in Metro Manila, Cebu and Davao, including three locally incorporated HSBC Savings Bank offices. — K.A.N. Vidal

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