HSBC’s Finance Director eyed as chairman candidate

Lender’s independent directors on a search for its chairman’s replacement as Green will join British government.

HSBC Holdings Plc Finance Director Douglas Flint is a likely candidate to replace Stephen Green as the bank’s chairman, the Financial Times reported, citing three unidentified people close to the lender’s board.

A “compromise candidate” may be appointed to the post, which would enable Michael Geoghegan to continue as chief executive officer, the newspaper said. Calls to HSBC’s Hong Kong-based spokesmen were not answered as Hong Kong’s markets are closed for a national holiday.

HSBC’s independent directors, led by former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Europe President Simon Robertson, are seeking a replacement for Green before the end of the month, a person familiar with the situation said Sept. 10. The bank on Wednesday denied reports in the Financial Times and the Evening Standard that Geoghegan threatened to quit if he wasn’t promoted to chairman.

“It is nonsense that the group CEO threatened to resign unless he was appointed chairman,” London-based spokesman Patrick McGuinness told Bloomberg News Wednesday. “The suggestion is offensive to Mike and to the company.”

View the full story in Bloomberg.