HSBC Holdings plc's (HBC, HSBA.L) board has agreed that Stephen Green would step down as chairman of the company before the end of the year, in order to accept the invitation of the Prime Minister to become Minister of State for Trade and Investment in January 2011.
The non-executive directors under the leadership of the senior independent Director had already been working on the Chairman's succession for some months, including having appointed external advisers.
The board has always intented that it would be in a position to approve a successor to Green before the end of the year, and that timetable remains on schedule.
Stephen Green joined HSBC in 1982 and became an executive Director in 1998. He served as Group Chief Executive from 2003 to 2006 before his appointment as Group Chairman.
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