HSBC shakes up board with two new business chiefs, three departures

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LONDON, Nov 13 (Reuters) - HSBC Holdings (HKSE: 0005.HK - news) announced a boardroom shake-up on Friday, with the departure of three directors who had sat on the board for a combined 30 years and the arrival of two big names from European business.

Europe's biggest bank has been under pressure from some shareholders to make changes after several years of trying to turn around the business and a weak share price, prompting it to appoint headhunters in April (LSE: 0N69.L - news) to find new non-executive directors.

HSBC said that Simon Robertson, deputy chairman, will retire after the bank's next annual shareholder meeting, normally in April, and Safra Catz will leave at the end of this year. Rona Fairhead will also leave after the AGM, as previously announced.

Paul Walsh, the chief executive of British drinks company Diageo (LSE: DGE.L - news) from 2000 to 2013, will join the HSBC board in January. Henri de Castries, chairman and CEO of French insurer AXA (Paris: FR0000120628 - news) since 2010 and its management board chairman since 2000, will join in March.

HSBC has said that that its next chairman will be an external candidate, so any new director could be a replacement for Douglas Flint, who industry sources expect to step down in the next 18 months.

Fairhead and Robertson are HSBC's longest-serving non-executive directors, having sat on the board for 12 and 10 years respectively. Catz has been on the board for nearly eight years.

Fairhead will hand her responsibilities as chair of HSBC North America Holdings to Heidi Miller at the end of 2015.

After the changes HSBC will have 14 independent non-executive directors alongside three executive directors and the full-time chairman. (Reporting by Emiliano Mellino and Steve Slater; Editing by David Goodman)