Irene Mitchell Dorner (born 5 December 1954) was the former president, CEO and managing director of

HSBC HSBC Holdings plc ( zh, t_hk=滙豐; initialism from its founding member The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) is a British universal bank and financial services group headquartered in London, England, with historical and business li ...

North America Holdings Inc. and HSBC USA. In 2014, she retired from her 32-year career at HSBC. A qualified barrister at law, during her career Dorner worked in a range of roles in the United Kingdom and internationally. She was the first woman CEO of HSBC, Malaysia. As well as being chairman of

Control Risks Control Risks is a global risk and strategic consulting firm that specializes in political, security and integrity risk assessments. History Control Risks was formed in 1975, as a professional adviser to the insurance industry. A subsidiary of ...

, she is a non-executive director of

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and

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Education and career

Dorner attended

Whitley Bay Grammar School Whitley may refer to: Places ;United Kingdom *Whitley, Berkshire, a suburb of Reading *Whitley, Cheshire, a village near Warrington *Whitley, Coventry, a suburb of Coventry, West Midlands *Whitley, Essex, near Birdbrook *Whitley, Wigan, Greater Ma ...

and

St Anne's College, Oxford St Anne's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It was founded in 1879 and gained full college status in 1959. Originally a women's college, it has admitted men since 1979. ...

where she received an MA in jurisprudence in 1976. She was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

in 1977. She is an Honorary Fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford. Dorner began her career in 1982 as an in-house lawyer at the merchant banking arm of

Midland Bank Midland Bank plc was one of the Big Four (banks)#United Kingdom, Big Four banking groups in the United Kingdom for most of the 20th century. It is now part of HSBC. The bank was founded as the Birmingham and Midland Bank in Union Street, Birming ...

, which was later acquired by HSBC. At HSBC, she was also the chief operating officer of treasury and capital markets and general manager of marketing and human resources. In 2007, she was appointed deputy chairman and CEO HSBC Bank Malaysia Berhad. In 2011, Dorner was appointed to run the US operations of HSBC. At the helm of HSBC during 2013's money laundering scandal, she's said "One of the things that I am trying to get through to our entire bank is I would rather you walked away from a piece of business that has a question mark next to it than do it in order to boost your bottom line. I am looking for sustainability." Dorner retired from HSBC in 2014. In 2012, she was named the Most Powerful Woman in Banking by American Banker. In 2013, she was named as one of the 25 Most Powerful Women On Wall Street by

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. While she is now a vocal advocate for advancing women in business and finance, she recognizes that this advocacy could have begun earlier. “I only realized what was happening when I was 50, because there I was, making my way in the unconscious rules,” Dorner said. “I really do think the next push has got to come from the senior middle-management women who must stand up and be counted on this earlier than I did.” Dorner suffered from

ovarian cancer Ovarian cancer is a cancerous tumor of an ovary. It may originate from the ovary itself or more commonly from communicating nearby structures such as fallopian tubes or the inner lining of the abdomen. The ovary is made up of three different ...

, but after six months of chemotherapy and surgery she became cancer free in 2012. She took over as chairwoman of

Virgin Money UK Virgin Money UK plc (formerly CYBG plc) is a British banking and financial services company. It has been owned by Nationwide Building Society since 1 October 2024. The Virgin Money (brand), Virgin Money brand was founded by Richard Branson in ...

on 31 March 2018. This appointment created the first all-female leadership team at a major British bank, with Jayne-Anne Gadhia acting as chief executive officer. In July 2019, it was announced Dorner would succeed Kevin Beeston as non-executive chair of

Taylor Wimpey Taylor Wimpey plc (formerly Taylor Woodrow plc) is one of the largest home construction companies in the United Kingdom. The company was created from the merger of rivals Taylor Woodrow and George Wimpey on 3 July 2007. It is listed on the Lond ...

from 26 February 2020. Dorner is to step down after the company's April 2023 AGM, and will be replaced by former

Land Securities Land Securities Group plc, trading as Landsec, is the largest commercial property development and investment company in the United Kingdom. The firm became a real estate investment trust (REIT) when REITs were introduced in the United Kingdom i ...

executive Robert Noel.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dorner, Irene Mitchell 1954 births Living people Alumni of St Anne's College, Oxford Members of the Middle Temple Fellows of St Anne's College, Oxford 21st-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesswomen American women business executives