Mega-deal maker Sir John Bond to retire after 45-year HSBC career

HSBC Holdings group chairman Sir John Bond, famous for his many mega-acquisitions, is to retire in May after a 45-year career with the world's third largest banking group.

Sir John, 64, will start his retirement after hosting the company's annual general meeting on May 26. He will be succeeded as group chairman by Stephen Green, 57, who joined HSBC in 1982 and is now group chief executive.

Born in England in 1941, Sir John studied in Britain and the United States before joining the bank in 1961. After working in Asia for 25 years and the US for four, he moved to London in 1993 when he was promoted to group chief executive, becoming group chairman in 1998.

While his predecessor, William Purves, will be remembered for his takeover of Midland Bank, expanding HSBC's exposure in Europe, Sir John has overseen acquisitions all over the world, including the spectacular US$14.24 billion takeover of Household International, a consumer finance company catering for people with poor credit histories, in March 2003.

That deal - HSBC's most significant takeover in more than a decade - raised eyebrows among many analysts, with some dismissing it as a dangerous departure from the bank's conservative strategy.

But in the first six months this year HSBC reported a 9.45 per cent growth in net earnings to a record high interim profit of US$7.59 billion, which was due primarily to acquisitions in emerging markets and into the US via the Household International takeover.