HSBC to appoint new boardroom pay chief as current chair Sam Laidlaw set to quit
HSBC is set to appoint a new boss for its boardroom pay committee as current chair Sam Laidlaw is set to step down from the bank's board as early as next year.
Laidlaw, the former boss of Centrica, took over as chair of the bank's remuneration committee from former Rolls Royce chairman Sir Simon Robertson last year. He was appointed to the board as director in 2008.
According to Sky News, Laidlaw is likely to quit the board in 2017 but the timing of his exit is yet to be confirmed.
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Laidlaw has had a tough task at hand at HSBC as the bank is overhauling the way its executives are rewarded.
In January this year, HSBC had to abandon a hiring and pay freeze after fierce protest from its staff. The bank said it aims to save $5bn (£3.5bn) by 2017 to improve its position.
One of his key tasks as chair of HSBC's boardroom committee is to identify a successor to the bank's chairman Douglas Flint who is set to retire next year.
In April, it was announced that HSBC's chief executive Stuart Gulliver is standing down just after two years in his job. Former Axa boss Henri de Castries, who was appointed non-executive director on HSBC's board recently, is hotly tipped to be the bank's next chairman.
Laidlaw is currently heading up a new oil and gas venture called Neptune. The London-based company is backed by private equity giants Carlyle and CVC Capital Partners and aims to produce up to 100,000 barrels a day of oil and gas output.