Chairman of HSBC Holdings to Retire

Sir William Purves, chairman of Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. Holdings, one of Hong Kong’s leading banks, will retire next year, the London-based banking group announced. A statement said Purves, 65, who joined the bank in 1954, will retire at the end of May. He has been chairman since 1986. He will be succeeded by John Bond, 56, who has been HSBC group chief executive since 1992. Bond will also succeed Purves as chairman of Midland Bank on Jan. 1, and as chairman of British Bank of the Middle East on March 1, the statement said. HSBC Holdings is one of the world largest’s banking and financial services groups. It has 5,500 offices in 79 countries and territories and assets of about $440 billion.