Samir Assaf (

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...

: سمير عساف; born 20 June 1960) is a Lebanese Businessman. He is a senior advisor to

HSBC HSBC Holdings plc is a British multinational universal bank and financial services holding company. It is the largest bank in Europe by total assets ahead of BNP Paribas, with US$2.953 trillion as of December 2021. In 2021, HSBC had $10.8 tri ...

's Group Chairman, Group CEO and the tank's business, and non-executive chairman of the boards of HSBC Bank Middle East Limited and HSBC Middle East Holdings. He is also a Senior Advisor at

General Atlantic General Atlantic (also known as "GA") is an American growth equity firm providing capital and strategic support for global growth companies, headquartered in New York, United States. The firm was founded in 1980 as the captive investment team for ...

and a member of the Advisory Board for BeyondNetZero,

's new climate venture.

Biography

Assaf was born into a

Maronite The Maronites ( ar, الموارنة; syr, ܡܖ̈ܘܢܝܐ) are a Christian ethnoreligious group native to the Eastern Mediterranean and Levant region of the Middle East, whose members traditionally belong to the Maronite Church, with the largest ...

Lebanese family. He completed his secondary studies at

College La Sagesse St Joseph – Ashrafieh A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering v ...

and graduated with a master degree in economics from

Saint Joseph University Saint Joseph University of Beirut (French: ''Université Saint-Joseph de Beyrouth'', abbreviated to and commonly known as "USJ") is a private Catholic research university located in Beirut, Lebanon, which was founded in 1875 by French Jesuit mis ...

before moving to France during the

Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ar, الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية, translit=Al-Ḥarb al-Ahliyyah al-Libnāniyyah) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 120,000 fatalities a ...

. Assaf completed his undergraduate studies at the

Paris Institute of Political Studies , motto_lang = fr , mottoeng = Roots of the Future , type = Public research university'' Grande école'' , established = , founder = Émile Boutmy , accreditation ...

and his graduate studies at the Pantheon-Sorbonne University. Assaf is fluent in four languages:

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

, French and

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: ** Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Ca ...

Career

After leaving academia in 1987, he joined French oil giant Total in 1987, rising to head of treasury by the time he left in 1994. In 1994, Assaf joined the French

commercial bank A commercial bank is a financial institution which accepts deposits from the public and gives loans for the purposes of consumption and investment to make profit. It can also refer to a bank, or a division of a large bank, which deals with co ...

Crédit Commercial de France The ''Crédit Commercial de France'' (CCF, "Commercial Credit ompanyof France") is a commercial bank in France, founded in 1894 as the ''Banque Suisse et Française'' and renamed to CCF in 1917. By the end of the 1920s, it had grown to be the s ...

to run the global market division. In 2000, Assaf joined HSBC, following the UK bank's acquisition of French

.Samir Assaf
HSBC At HSBC, he started as head of

fixed income Fixed income refers to any type of investment under which the borrower or issuer is obliged to make payments of a fixed amount on a fixed schedule. For example, the borrower may have to pay interest at a fixed rate once a year and repay the pri ...

trading Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct exch ...

, Europe, and head of Global Markets HSBC France. In 2006 he was promoted to head of Global Markets for EMEA and in 2007 became deputy head of Global Markets. Assaf became head of Global Markets in January 2008 and a group general manager in May 2008. In December 2010, Assaf was appointed

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...

of Global Banking and Markets. Assaf also became a group managing director and joined the group management board with responsibility for Global Banking and Markets. In December 2019, HSBC announced that two co-heads, Gregory Guyett and Georges Elhedery would succeed Assaf as head of the global banking and markets division. In March 2020 Assaf stepped down from his executive role in HSBC to become a senior advisor to the chairman and the chief executive officer of HSBC and chairman of the board of HSBC in the Middle East. In June 2020, Assaf has been appointed Co-Chairman of the Coalition for Climate Resilient Investment (CCRI), which was launched at the UN Climate Action Summit in 2019. In October 2021 Assaf added to his current activities with HSBC a senior advisory role to

one of the most successful private growth fund.

Awards

Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur (31 December 2020) Chevalier de la L'Ordre national du Merite (30 January 2008)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Assaf, Samir Living people 1960 births Lebanese Maronites 20th-century Lebanese businesspeople Lebanese bankers Pantheon-Sorbonne University alumni 21st-century Lebanese businesspeople