HSBC has named Steve Hughes as chief executive officer and head of banking for Australia and New Zealand, effective 1 January 2026, following a restructuring that merges the two roles.

Hughes joined HSBC in 2015 and has led the bank’s wholesale banking division across Australia and New Zealand since January 2023. Before that, he spent more than two decades at The Royal Bank of Scotland, where he worked across international banking operations and held senior posts spanning Asia Pacific loan markets, corporate debt capital markets and corporate coverage. He graduated from the University of Leeds with a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in economics and mathematics.

The leadership change comes as Antony Shaw steps down as chief executive officer of HSBC Australia and New Zealand by the end of this year. Shaw, who was appointed in September 2022 and has more than 30 years’ experience at local and international institutions, will have his next role announced at a later date, the bank said.

Reuters, citing an internal memo, reported that Shaw will step down as chief exec of HSBC Australia and New Zealand by year-end, with the bank saying his future role will be announced at a later date.

The Australian Financial Review further reported that HSBC will overhaul its local leadership structure and merge the chief executive and head of banking roles, with Shaw “stepping back from running the bank and the job that he has held for just over three years.” The AFR also set the change within HSBC’s ongoing business review under global chief executive Georges Elhedery, who took the helm in September last year.

Hughes’ appointment places a long‑serving wholesale banker at the centre of HSBC’s regional operations. The merged role aligns with the bank’s reconfiguration of its governance in Australia and New Zealand and points to continuity for corporate and institutional clients, given Hughes’ background across syndicated lending, capital markets and coverage.

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