Stuart Thomson Gulliver (born 9 March 1959) is a British banker, and the former group chief executive of
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 ...
. He was succeeded on 21 February 2018 by John Flint.
Early life and education
He was born in
Derby
Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gain ...
, England, in 1959. His father Philip was a legal executive, while his mother Jean was personal assistant to the senior engineer at a local dockyard. Gulliver went to
grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school, ...
in
Plymouth
Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west.
Plymout ...
,
Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...
.
Gulliver was an avid boxer while at
Worcester College, Oxford
Worcester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1714 by the benefaction of Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (1648–1701) of Norgrove, Worcestershire, whose coat of arms ...
, where he received a degree in
jurisprudence
Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning ...
(law). In a 2011 interview to
Financial Times
The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nikke ...
, Gulliver recalls his humble upbringing and his childhood aspiration, and said: "I wanted to be a barrister, but my parents couldn’t afford it".
Professional career
Early career and HSBC (1980–2010)
In 1980, an HSBC executive serving in India urged him to join HSBC's elite international officer programme, as it was called at that time, which paved the way for his banking career. Gulliver worked his way up in treasury and capital markets divisions, rose through the ranks in the bank's Global banking and markets division, and held a number of key roles in the group's operations worldwide; including postings in London, Hong Kong,
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...
,
Kuala Lumpur
, anthem = ''Maju dan Sejahtera''
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia
, pushpin_map_caption =
, coordinates =
, sub ...
and the
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at ...
.
Gulliver was appointed to run the Asian and treasury capital markets desks from Hong Kong in the mid 1990s. During the 1990s, Gulliver built HSBC's investment banking business in Hong Kong and turned HSBC's Asian markets business into one of the group's major money-spinners, even in the aftermath of the
Asian financial crisis
The Asian financial crisis was a period of financial crisis that gripped much of East Asia and Southeast Asia beginning in July 1997 and raised fears of a worldwide economic meltdown due to financial contagion. However, the recovery in 1998– ...
. He served as the head of
treasury
A treasury is either
*A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry.
*A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or ...
and
capital markets
A capital market is a financial market in which long-term debt (over a year) or equity-backed securities are bought and sold, in contrast to a money market where short-term debt is bought and sold. Capital markets channel the wealth of savers t ...
in
Asia-Pacific
Asia-Pacific (APAC) is the part of the world near the western Pacific Ocean. The Asia-Pacific region varies in area depending on context, but it generally includes East Asia, Russian Far East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and Pacific Isla ...
from 1996 to 2012.
He was appointed a group general manager in 2000, and later he led the global markets division from 2002 to 2003. He moved back to London in early 2003 to co-head the group's global corporate, investment banking and markets division along with John Studzinski. In March 2004, he joined the group management board as a group managing director. Upon the departure of John Studzinski in 2006, he was appointed chief executive of global banking and markets and HSBC
Global Asset Management
GAM Investments is an independent, pure play asset management group headquartered in Zurich.
in May 2006.
He was a director of HSBC North America Holdings Inc until May 2009; of HSBC Bank Middle East Ltd from February 2010 to May 2011; of HSBC Latin America Holdings (UK) Limited until December 2009.
He is Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Committee of HSBC Trinkaus & Burkhardt AG (since September 2007; member since May 2006); non-Executive Chairman and a Director of HSBC France since January 2009; and Chairman of HSBC Private Banking Holdings (Suisse) SA since February 2010 (Director since September 2007).
He was made a director of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited in September 2006 and has been an executive director of HSBC Holdings plc since May 2008.
Group CEO of HSBC (2010–2018)
On 7 September 2010, Stephen Green, the then Group Chairman of HSBC, announced that he would step down, in order to accept the invitation of the
UK Prime Minister
The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern p ...
HSBC Holdings plc
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 tril ...
Bloomberg Markets
''Bloomberg Markets'' is a magazine published six times a year by Bloomberg L.P. as part of Bloomberg News. Aimed at global financial professionals, ''Bloomberg Markets'' publishes articles on the people and issues related to global financial ma ...
''.
In 2014, he received a total of £7.6 million in pay and bonuses.
In October 2017, it was announced that he will be succeeded in February 2018 by John Flint.
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, where he lives with his Australian-born second wife, Amanda "Mandy" Henricks. He has three children from his first marriage. He officially lives in
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
.
A 2017 tax tribunal case shows HMRC agreed that by 2002/2003 Gulliver had become non-domiciled by establishing a domicile of choice in Hong Kong, despite having returned to be resident in the UK again, for what was intended to be a period of two years. In 2015, HMRC opened an enquiry into his domicile status, since he had in fact remained UK resident.
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper
A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background.
Newspapers can cover a wide ...
newspaper reported that Gulliver was a client of the scandal-ridden Panamanian lawfirm