JUST as one swallow doesn't make a summer, so one board appointment doesn't mark a trend - although, in the case of HSBC, it might just have signalled the beginning of one. My revelation last weekend that Europe's biggest lender by market capitalisation, is about to kick of f a search for its next chairman represents another - in corporate governance terms - sliding doors moment.

By the spring of 2026, Mark Tucker, the former Prudential and AIA chief executive, will have served nine years at the helm of HSBC. The bank is wise to begin the search early. Ann Godbehere, its senior independent non-executive, will not have a deep pool of candidates to choose from.

HSBC's chairmanship has traditionally been picked from the company's executive ranks, with Tucker the sole exception to that convention in its 152-year history (at the time of his appointment).

Steeped in Asian financial services, he was, nevertheless, not seen as an obvious choice to replace Douglas Flint - so much so that when one reporter heard that 'Tucker' would be HSBC's next chair, his assumption was that it was former Bank of England deputy governor Paul Tucker.

The new chairman's first choice of CEO, John Flint, was fired just 18 months after he took over.

Noel Quinn, the next choice, had more success, steering HSBC - alongside Tucker - through the Covid pandemic and a protracted activism fight with the Chinese insurer Ping An which at one point threatened management's grip on the business.

Quinn has now gone too, replaced another long-serving executive Georges Elhedery, whose recent reorganisation of the bank raised questions about its long-term commitment to a number its businesses (including the UK retail bank).

In his early exchanges with analysts, investors and the media, these questions have been dismissed. Logically, though, it feels right that Tucker's successor should be appointed from outside HSBC's current boardroom ranks if Elhedery's strategy is to be properly held to account. The next five years - a period when HSBC could find itself caught in the crosswinds of a Donald Trump-fuelled trade war between the US and China - will not be easy to navigate.

(c) 2024 City A.M., source Newspaper