HSBC considers first female CFO in bank's history

HSBC

HSBC Holdings is considering appointing its first female finance director in its 159-year history, with Pam Kaur emerging as a leading candidate among several senior executives for one of the top jobs in global banking.

Chief Risk and Compliance Officer Kaur, 60, is said to be a favorite for the chief financial officer role that became vacant after Georges Elhedery succeeded Noel Quinn on Sept. 2 as chief executive officer of Europe's largest lender, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Other potential candidates include Greg Guyett, head of global banking and markets; Willard McLane, group head of strategy and corporate development; and Kavita Mahtani, CFO of HSBC's Europe and Western Markets, the people said, declining to be identified discussing non-public information.

No final decision has been made and other candidates could still join the race, the people said. A representative for HSBC declined to comment.

HSBC has said it's looking for a permanent CFO to succeed Elhedery, who's set out to stamp his own mark on the lender as its new boss. As central banks around the world cut interest rates — moves that will eat away at the revenue of big, global lenders like HSBC — Elhedery will have to find a way to shave off $2 billion in costs in order to sustain a key measure of the bank's profits, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.

Kaur has worked for several of the world's largest banks, including Citigroup, where she held a variety of roles including global director of compliance for consumer banking, and Deutsche Bank, where she was global head of group audit.