| The Right Honourable The Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint |
|
|---|---|
| Minister of State for Trade and Investment | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 11 January 2011 |
|
| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Prime Minister | David Cameron |
| Preceded by | Mark Prisk |
| Group Chairman of HSBC Group | |
| In office 26 May 2006 – 3 December 2010 |
|
| Preceded by | John Bond |
| Succeeded by | Douglas Flint |
| Group Chief Executive of HSBC Group | |
| In office 1 June 2003 – 26 May 2006 |
|
| Preceded by | Keith Whitson |
| Succeeded by | Michael Geoghegan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 7 November 1948 |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Alma mater | Lancing College Exeter College, Oxford University of Oxford Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Stephen Keith Green, Baron Green of Hurstpierpoint (born 7 November 1948) is a British Conservative politician the current Minister of State for Trade and Investment and former Group Chairman of HSBC Holdings plc. Green was educated at Lancing College and Exeter College, Oxford and received a master's degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
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Green began his career with the British Government's Ministry of Overseas Development. In 1977 he joined McKinsey & Co Inc., management consultants, with whom he undertook assignments in Europe, North America and the Middle East.
He joined The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited in 1982 with responsibility for corporate planning activities, and, in 1985, was put in charge of the development of the bank's global treasury operations. In 1992 he became Group Treasurer of HSBC Holdings plc, with responsibility for the HSBC Group's treasury and capital markets businesses globally.
In March 1998 Green was appointed to the Board of HSBC Holdings plc as Executive Director, Investment Banking and Markets responsible for the investment banking, private banking and asset management activities of the Group. He assumed additional responsibility for the Group's corporate banking business in May 2002. His appointment as Group Chief Executive took effect on 1 June 2003. Green oversaw the acquisition and integration of the U.S. consumer-finance group Household International, which represented HSBC's largest acquisition in a series of acquisitions made in the five years prior to Green's appointment as chief executive.
In January 2005, Green became Chairman of HSBC Bank plc, the group's UK clearing bank subsidiary. On 28 November 2005, HSBC announced that he would become Group Executive Chairman when Sir John Bond retired on 26 May 2006. In September 2010, it was announced he would join the UK's Conservative – Liberal Democrat coalition government in early 2011 as the Minister of State for Trade and Investment in an unpaid capacity.[1][2] He stepped down as Group Chairman of HSBC on 3 December 2010 and was replaced by Douglas Flint.[3] To enable him to be accountable to Parliament, he was created a life peer on 16 November 2010 as Baron Green of Hurstpierpoint, of Hurstpierpoint in the County of West Sussex,[4] and was introduced in the House of Lords on 22 November. He became Minister of State for Trade and Investment in both the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on 11 January 2011.
Some of his other directorships include The Bank of Bermuda Limited, HSBC Mexico, SA and The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited. He is also Chairman of HSBC Private Banking Holdings (Suisse) SA and HSBC North America Holdings Inc., Deputy Chairman of HSBC Trinkaus & Burkhardt AG and is a board member of HSBC France.
Green is married to Janian and has two daughters, Ruth and Suzie. He is an ordained priest in the Church of England,[5] having studied at the Ming Hua Theological College whilst he was in Hong Kong, and is the author of the book Serving God? Serving Mammon?.[6] On the 7th July 2005 he was appointed a Trustee of the British Museum.[7] Green has a sister called Elizabeth who lives in the USA and a brother, George Francis Green, who is Professor of Labour Economics and Skills Development at the Institute of Education, University of London.
Green himself was awarded an honorary doctor's degree from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London in 2010.[8]
"With the benefit of hindsight, this is an acquisition we wish we had not undertaken," Stephen Green, HSBC's chairman, said, referring to HSBC's $15Bn acquisition of the sub-prime lender Household International in 2003.[9]
Green on the banking industry:
"The industry has done many things wrong. It is important to remember that many ordinary bankers have always sought to provide good service to their customers; but we must also recognise that there have been too many who have profoundly damaged the industry's reputation."[10]
"Underlying all these events is a question about the culture and ethics of the industry. It is as if, too often, people had given up asking whether something was the right thing to do, and focused only whether it was legal and complied with the rules. The industry needs to recover a sense of what is right and suitable as a key impulse for doing business."[11]
McKinsey News (March 20, 2006) quoted Green saying this on making acquisitions: "We use four criteria when approaching acquisitions – financial value creation, client and product portfolio synergies, systems integration, and the fourth is ‘culture.’ We ask, ‘will the cultures mesh? Is there a good human fit in the way we do business?’ We consider this very seriously because we know that a cultural clash would be devastating for our shared ethos."[12]
| Business positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Keith Whitson |
Group Chief Executive of HSBC Group 2003–2006 |
Succeeded by Michael Geoghegan |
| Preceded by John Bond |
Group Chairman of HSBC Group 2006–2010 |
Succeeded by Douglas Flint |
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