Hang Seng Bank appoints HSBC’s Luanne Lim as new chief executive

Diana Cesar will return to HSBC as vice chairman, Hong Kong.

Hang Seng Bank announced that Luanne Lim will take over as executive director and chief executive of the bank, effective October 2025.

Lim is currently CEO of HSBC Hong Kong, a role she had served in the past four years.

Diana Cesar, incumbent chief executive of the Hong Kong-headquartered bank, will return to HSBC as vice chairman, Hong Kong, advising the co-CEOs of HSBC Asia and Middle East on how to best develop the Hong Kong business, according to a statement on 4 September 2025.

Hang Seng Bank has been noted to have weak profits, reporting higher-than-expected credit losses related to Hong Kong real estate, according to a report by Morningstar earlier in August 2025.

The bank’s credit losses rose to HK$4.86b in the first half of 2025, from HK$1.5b during the same period in 2024, noted in a separate report by S&P Global Ratings. It expects Hang Seng Bank’s credit loss ratio to continue to rise in 2025, constraining the bank’s profitability.

“The impact is likely to remain manageable, in our view, because of the bank's solid profitability before impairment charges,” S&P said.

In a statement, Hang Seng Bank’s board thanked Cesar for her outstanding leadership over the past years.

“Ms Cesar has led Hang Seng through a challenging period, successfully future-proofing the business to enable sustainable growth on revenue, customers, and brand preference from the local community,” said Edward Cheng, chairman of the board at the Hong Kong-headquartered bank.

“At the same time, she has maintained a very healthy capital position whilst increasing shareholders’ return,” Cheng said.

The directors of Hang Seng Bank also welcomed Lim to the board and said that they are looking forward to working closely with her.