HSBC is shaking up its senior ranks in a bid to shed its “hierarchical” structure and bring its reporting lines more in line with its European and Wall Street rivals.

The UK lender will be scrapping some titles for its most senior ranks, instead whittling it down to three job bands, according to an internal memo from chief executive Noel Quinn seen by Financial News.

Hundreds of senior managers will be given new titles, untangling HSBC’s complex internal structure that is out of kilter with other banks and simplifying the organisation during a period of cost-cutting.

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The bank has typically defined its employees by ‘global career band’ or GCB, ranging from one to eight in declining order of seniority. Those in the upper ranks will now move to being known as ‘group executive’ for the bank’s highest posts, ‘general managers’ for those “leading the most significant businesses, functions and geographies” and ‘managing director’ – a classic investment bank term for those heading up key business lines.

The top four bands will now be merged into three. Quinn said this “would ensure clarity on scope and accountability, and empower [HSBC’s]  leaders to make decisions that will help accelerate [the bank’s] transformation and drive growth”.

The general manager role appears to be the one that will hand a number of key executives more responsibility. Quinn said they would “include those leading a key activity, exercising control over critical functional responsibilities, setting group-wide policy, defining future capabilities and control environments, and providing second-line oversight of complex change”.

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HSBC is in the midst of a strategic overhaul under Quinn that will simplify the business and eventually cut 35,000 jobs across the organisation. Stripping out unnecessary layers of management has been a key focus.

Bloomberg earlier reported the contents of the memo.

To contact the author of this story with feedback or news, email Paul Clarke

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