HONG KONG, Feb 20 (Reuters) - HSBC Holdings PLC has
named Kevin Martin, its head of Asia Pacific retail banking and
wealth management unit, as the chief operating officer of the
newly created global wealth and personal banking business.
HSBC said on Tuesday it would merge its private banking and
retail wealth businesses to create a new wealth and personal
banking business, as part of a radical strategy overhaul at
Europe's largest lender by assets.
Previously, clients with more than $5 million of investable
assets were served by the bank's private banking unit, while
those with less than that threshold were taken up by HSBC's
retail banking and wealth management division.
In his new role, Martin will also head digital initiatives
at the new unit, which will be one of the world's largest wealth
managers with $1.4 trillion in assets, the bank said in a
statement on Thursday.
Martin, who will continue to be based in Hong Kong, has been
in his current role since 2014. His successor as the head of
Asia Pacific wealth and personal banking would be announced
soon, the bank said.
In 2019, pre-tax profit for Asia Pacific retail banking and
wealth management grew 12% to $6.9 billion. The regional retail
and wealth business accounted for 18% of the global pre-tax
profit of that unit.
(Reporting by Sumeet Chatterjee; Editing by Edmund Blair)