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Global banking giant HSBC has put the finishing touches to a strategic overhaul of its treasury and capital markets business with the announcement of four key appointments.

Cementing a break signalled last year from the previous regional focus applied to treasury and capital market operations, a new post of 'Head of Global Markets' has been established.

In an announcement last night, HSBC said the new post would be filled by Stuart Gulliver - who is presently Hong Kong-based chief executive for investment banking and markets for the Asia-Pacific region.

'What it boils down to is that the markets business is now being run as a single global operation with strong functional management,' a bank spokesman said.

'It follows the example set in Asia where the treasury and capital markets [T&CM] business moved from a collection of geographical entities into a single regional T&CM business.'

In his chairman's report to the 2001 Group results, Sir John Bond said the integration of corporate and investment banking services would be one of four key strategies pursued by the bank.

Strong growth had been recorded in revenues generated by treasury and capital markets' business in Asia, said analysts.

Mr Gulliver's appointment to the new top job within the Corporate, Investment Banking and Markets (CIBM) unit was a reward for the contribution treasury operations in the region had made to Group profit in 2001, they said.

Mr Gulliver will now report directly to Stephen Green, executive director of the newly-integrated CIBM business unit in the Bank.

A member of Mr Gulliver's Hong Kong team, Brian Robertson, will become head of CIBM for HSBC in North America - a post he will take up in March next year - and he will move to New York from Hong Kong where he is Head of Corporate and Institutional Banking for Asia and co-head of CIBM Asia-Pacific.

Tony Rademeyer, treasurer for HSBC Bank in London and head of T&CM in Europe, will take up the position of head of CIBM for Asia-Pacific and will be promoted to a group general manager, according to last night's announcement.

Iain Stewart will take up a new position of head of transaction banking in March.

Commenting on the appointments, Mr Green said the Group's CIBM business had generated some 38 per cent of pre-tax profits last year.

'One of HSBC's most distinct competitive advantages is the talent and experience of our executives worldwide.

'These appointments further the strategic integration we began earlier this year.'

It remains to be seen whether analysts will endorse the restructured corporate and investment banking business.

Notably absent in HSBC's global footprint and product line-up, analysts have observed, is an investment banking franchise that can compete with the 'bulge bracket' firms of Wall Street - particularly in the United States market.

But Group chairman Sir John has declared his opposition to many of the practices adopted by those firms - and a dissatisfaction with the Group's bonus policy led to widespread defections from its investment banking operations this year.

With a commitment to generating predictable and reliable dividends for shareholders, HSBC has also set close limits to the reliance it wishes to attach to investment banking revenues.

The move to integrate its investment bank with corporate banking and treasury and capital markets was designed to win more lucrative advisory work from its big borrowers, analysts said.

But the bank has declared that it would prefer to keep contributions from investment banking to just 10 per cent of Group profit.



HSBC unveils treasury and capital markets facelift