Michael Graham Ruddock Sandberg, Baron Sandberg,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(, 31 May 1927 – 2 July 2017) was executive chairman of

The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (), commonly abbreviated as HSBC and formerly known as HongkongBank (; styled ''Wayfoong'' by the bank), is the Hong Kong–based Asia-Pacific subsidiary of the HSBC banking group, for whi ...

from 1977 to 1986.

Biography

Sandberg was born in

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

and educated at

St Edward's School, Oxford St Edward's School is a public school (English fee-charging boarding and day school) in Oxford, England. It is known informally as 'Teddies'. Approximately sixty pupils live in each of its thirteen houses. The school is a member of the Rug ...

. In 1945 he joined the army and was commissioned 2nd lieutenant in the

Royal Armoured Corps The Royal Armoured Corps is the armoured arm of the British Army, that together with the Household Cavalry provides its armour capability, with vehicles such as the Challenger 2 and the Warrior tracked armoured vehicle. It includes most of the Ar ...

in 1946, and was promoted to lieutenant in November 1947. He later volunteered to join the

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

. Upon Indian independence he joined the First King's Dragoon Guards in January 1949. In 1949 he joined

, becoming chairman and chief executive in 1977. During his chairmanship the bank saw substantial international expansion, acquiring a 51% stake in

Marine Midland Bank Marine Midland Bank was an American bank formerly headquartered in Buffalo, New York, with several hundred branches throughout the state of New York (state), New York, Pennsylvania and two branches located in Seattle, Washington (state), Washing ...

in the United States of America, establishing the

Hongkong Bank of Canada HSBC Bank Canada (), formerly the Hongkong Bank of Canada (HBC), was a British-Canadian chartered bank and the former Canadian subsidiary of British multinational banking and financial services company HSBC founded in 1981. It was the seventh ...

in 1981 and HongkongBank of Australia Limited in 1986. As Chairman Sandberg was responsible for the construction of the landmark HSBC Main Building in

Central, Hong Kong Central (Chinese: 中環), also known as Central District, is the central business district of Hong Kong. It is located in the northeastern corner of the Central and Western District, on the north shore of Hong Kong Island, across Victoria Har ...

, which at the time was the most expensive building ever constructed in the world. Having been appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in 1977 and promoted to a

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

(CBE) in 1982, on retirement he received a

knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

for "public services in Hong Kong". On 2 October 1997 he was created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

as Baron Sandberg of

Passfield Passfield is a small village in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is in the civil parish of Bramshott and Liphook and lies approximately north-west from Liphook and south-east from Bordon. The village was once a main crossi ...

in the

County of Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, Dorset to the west, and Wiltshi ...

. He retired from the House on 8 May 2015. He died on 2 July 2017 at the age of 90.

References

External links

Lord Sandberg
profile at the site of Liberal Democrats } {{DEFAULTSORT:Sandberg, Michael 1927 births 2017 deaths Chairmen of HSBC Liberal Democrats (UK) life peers Life peers created by Elizabeth II People educated at St Edward's School, Oxford Members of the Executive Council of Hong Kong Presidents of Surrey County Cricket Club 20th-century British Army personnel Royal Armoured Corps officers Peers retired under the House of Lords Reform Act 2014