Mike Geoghegan: the final interview

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Mike Geoghegan: the final interview

In his final interview as chief executive of HSBC, the bank he served for almost 40 years, Mike Geoghegan answers the questions that matter. Did he jump or was he pushed? Should HSBC remain supervised and headquartered in the UK? What happened to the Nedbank takeover? Will the bank list in Shanghai? And he reflects on a stellar career that mirrored the globalization of banking, and in which he was forced to deal with many financial crises.

Mike Geoghegan gave his life to HSBC. But the bank did not give him the chairman’s role many wrongly thought he craved. In his final interview as chief executive of one of the banks that performed best through the financial crisis, Geoghegan explains the circumstances of his departure, highlights the challenges facing both HSBC and the global banking industry at large, and reflects on a career that mirrored the globalization of financial services. Lucy McNulty reports.

Mike Geoghegan gave his life to HSBC. But the bank did not give him the chairman’s role many wrongly thought he craved. In his final interview as chief executive of one of the banks that performed best through the financial crisis, Geoghegan explains the circumstances of his departure, highlights the challenges facing both HSBC and the global banking industry at large, and reflects on a career that mirrored the globalization of financial services

RIDDEN WITH FLU, but nevertheless exuding the bonhomie of a man ready and happy to start the next chapter in his life, Mike Geoghegan greets Euromoney just a few days before he officially relinquishes his role as one of the world’s most powerful bankers.

Sitting in the Hong Kong office he entered with such fanfare a mere nine months previously, Geoghegan has a story to tell. But this isn’t the story you might be expecting – the widely reported, but fiercely denied, tale of a bitter, unpopular chief executive forced into early retirement after his efforts to secure HSBC’s chairmanship backfired.

In his final interview at HSBC, Geoghegan makes clear his disappointment at the messy way in which his tenure came to an end.



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