HSBC appointed Suleman Selim Kervanci as Chief Executive Officer for its Middle East, North Africa and Türkiye region, known internally as MENAT, with the appointment taking effect in January 2025. The leadership change places a new figure at the head of one of HSBC's most strategically significant regional franchises, spanning markets that the group has identified as growth priorities within its international banking network.

Separately, Faris AlGhannam continues in his role as CEO and Board Member of HSBC Saudi Arabia, which operates as a distinct subsidiary within the kingdom's regulatory framework. The dual-level leadership structure reflects the particular regulatory and strategic importance of the Saudi Arabian operation, which functions as one of the leading investment and commercial banking entities in the kingdom.

MENAT REGION CENTRAL TO HSBC STRATEGY

The MENAT region encompasses some of the world's fastest-growing wealth markets alongside major trade finance corridors connecting Asia, Europe and Africa. Gulf Cooperation Council countries, in particular, have attracted sustained inflows of capital and talent in recent years, and HSBC has invested in expanding its wealth management and corporate banking capabilities in the region to capture that activity.

Kervanci inherits a franchise that competes across wholesale banking, trade finance, treasury services and private banking. HSBC's network advantage — its ability to connect clients in the Middle East with counterparts in Asia, Europe and North America — remains a core differentiator in a region where cross-border flows are substantial. Major infrastructure and diversification projects across the Gulf represent a continuing source of transaction banking and capital markets activity.

The region also includes Türkiye, where HSBC maintains a retail and commercial banking operation in one of the emerging markets with the most dynamic — and volatile — macroeconomic backdrop among HSBC's geographies. Managing the Türkiye business alongside the Gulf and North African operations requires a regional chief executive with a broad range of supervisory competencies.

SAUDI ARABIA OPERATIONS RETAIN DISTINCT LEADERSHIP

The continuation of AlGhannam as CEO of HSBC Saudi Arabia underlines the structural importance of the kingdom within the MENAT framework. Saudi Arabia's ongoing implementation of Vision 2030 has generated sustained deal flow in project finance, debt capital markets and corporate advisory, and HSBC Saudi Arabia is positioned as a principal banking partner for both public-sector programmes and large private-sector corporates.

HSBC Saudi Arabia holds a full commercial banking licence from the Saudi Central Bank and offers a range of services spanning corporate banking, investment banking, treasury and securities. AlGhannam's retention in the top role provides continuity of relationships with major Saudi clients and regulators during a period when the kingdom's capital markets infrastructure is continuing to develop.

The combination of Kervanci at the regional level and AlGhannam in the Saudi seat reflects HSBC's strategy of maintaining both regional coherence and locally accountable leadership in its largest MENAT market. As global banks recalibrate their geographic priorities, the MENAT region's growing share of global trade and wealth flows makes senior leadership continuity and quality an area of heightened attention for the group's executive committee. Kervanci faces the task of knitting together a diverse cluster of markets — from the Gulf's capital-rich sovereigns to the more challenging operating environments in parts of North Africa — under a coherent regional strategy. His success in the role will be measured by how effectively HSBC maintains and extends its client relationships across the breadth of the MENAT franchise.