HSBC has chosen its successor to John Gubert as head of its securities services businesses. He is Tim Howell, who will succeed Gubert as Head of Global Transaction Banking, Financial Institutions – which includes the additional role of Global Head of HSBC Securities Services – from the end of this year.
The appointment is a measure of the rising importance of securities services within the HSBC Group, and of the growing ambition at the bank to improve its cross-selling performance through closer co-operation with the corporate banking and capital markets businesses of the bank.
The 45-year-old Howell has worked at HSBC since 1986 in a variety of roles, but they include Head of Group Liability and Asset Management and Treasurer of the entire HSBC Group. He will therefore bring a high level connection between the securities services businesses and the capital markets businesses of the bank.
Howell will join the transaction banking and securities services businesses on 8 May, implying an eight month transition down to the retirement of Gubert at the end of the year.
“Tim’s background in liability and risk management in the securities and markets businesses will help us provide a more seamless set of products and services,” says Iain Stewart, Head of Global Transaction Banking. “He will lead our financial institutions business which offers global markets execution engines, collateral management, credit, distribution and banking services.”
Gubert, whose career at Midland Bank and its new owners HSBC stretches back 27 years, is among the best-known figures in the securities services business. Although his retirement was well-flagged in advance, he will nevertheless be badly missed. “John has been Head of HSBC Securities Services since 1993,” says Stewart. “During this period, the business has grown almost tenfold through acquisition and organic growth. The industry, as well as HSBC, holds him in the highest regard.”