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 Hong Kong in 1961. After management training in London, he worked in Asia for 25 years, serving in Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia. He was brought back to Hong Kong in 1983 as chief executive of the group's merchant banking arm Wardley, which was recovering from the Carrian scandal.

After spending four years in the US, he moved to London in 1993 when he was promoted to group chief executive, becoming group chairman in 1998.

While his predecessor, Sir 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.