John Bond (banker)
Encyclopedia
Sir John Reginald Hartnell Bond retired as chairman of HSBC Holdings plc on 26 May 2006, after spending 45 years with the bank. He took up the position of Chairman of Vodafone
in July 2006.
He was appointed as a member of the Hong Kong Chief Executive's Council of International Advisers
in the years of 1998-2005.
, Indonesia
, Singapore
and Thailand
, before returning to Hong Kong to manage the bank's investment banking arm Wardley in the 1980s. From there, he was posted to New York, New York, to head the bank's United States
operations (which included Marine Midland Bank
), before being appointed HSBC Group CEO in 1993. Bond took over as Group Chairman in 1998 with the retirement of Sir William Purves.
On 28 November 2005, HSBC announced that Bond would step down as chairman from May 2006, to be succeeded by the bank's CEO, Stephen Green
. It was later announced that Bond would be taking over from Lord MacLaurin as chairman of the British telecommunications company Vodafone
.
During Bond's tenure as chairman, HSBC extended its reach well beyond its major franchises in Hong Kong and Britain. From 1998 to 2005, HSBC spent $47bn on acquisitions, including those of Republic National Bank, Credit Commercial de France
, Bital Bank, Bank of Bermuda, and Household International.
He was Chairman of HSBC's Board when the Household acquisition was approved in 2003 by the Board. Household was a consumer finance business, an established business in the USA serving the 40% of the US population who are sub-prime; other major players were GE, Wells Fargo, Citigroup and AIG.
During his Chairmanship HSBC invested over USD3 billion in China by buying 20% stakes in Bank of Communications and Ping An Insurance, as well as investing in HSBC's proprietary branch network. He chaired both the China Development Forum and the Mayor of Shanghai's International Business Leaders' Advisory Council and joined the Advisory Board of Tsinghua School of Economics and Management.
Bond led HSBC to devoting considerable resources to corporate social responsibility
, recognising the bank's responsibilities to the environment and the communities in which it operates. He was also behind HSBC's strong interest in the demographic changes being wrought by an aging world.
His management style is modest, and in interviews Bond preferred to discuss HSBC rather than himself. He attributed his rise to the top of HSBC as a result of being in the right place at the right time. In an interview in 2005 (below), he noted being driven more by a fear of failure, of letting down shareholders, customers and staff, rather than a sense of personal aggrandisement.
Bond was a Director of the Ford Motor Company
. He has been a governor of the English-Speaking Union
, and was chairman of the Institute of International Finance
from 1998 to 2003.
, and educated at Tonbridge School
. His family's roots are in Bristol
. Bond failed to gain admittance to Oxford University, so on leaving school he spent two years in the USA, one as an English-Speaking Union scholarship student at Cate School
, near Santa Barbara, California
, before being given passage on a ship from Long Beach
to Hong Kong as a deck hand.
Bond is married to Elizabeth, Lady Bond, with whom he has two daughters and a son. His elder daughter Annabelle Bond
is the fourth British woman to have climbed Mt Everest and the woman to have scaled the Seven Summits
in the briefest period of time.
He was knighted in 1999 for his services to banking.
In March 2007 at the European Business Awards he was given a lifetime achievement award.
Vodafone
Vodafone Group Plc is a global telecommunications company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest mobile telecommunications company measured by revenues and the world's second-largest measured by subscribers , with around 341 million proportionate subscribers as of...
in July 2006.
He was appointed as a member of the Hong Kong Chief Executive's Council of International Advisers
Chief Executive of Hong Kong
The Chief Executive of Hong Kong is the President of the Executive Council of Hong Kong and head of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The position was created to replace the Governor of Hong Kong, who was the head of the Hong Kong government during British rule...
in the years of 1998-2005.
Career
John Bond joined The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation as an International manager in 1961, at the age of 19, his original application having been turned down before the intervention of the father of an old school friend whose father was a broker for the bank. He spent his early career in Hong KongHong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
and Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, before returning to Hong Kong to manage the bank's investment banking arm Wardley in the 1980s. From there, he was posted to New York, New York, to head the bank's United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
operations (which included Marine Midland Bank
Marine Midland Bank
Marine Midland Bank was a bank formerly headquartered in Buffalo with several hundred branches throughout the state of New York. Marine Midland began in 1850 in Buffalo as the Marine Trust Company with the objective of financing the new shipping trade on the Great Lakes...
), before being appointed HSBC Group CEO in 1993. Bond took over as Group Chairman in 1998 with the retirement of Sir William Purves.
On 28 November 2005, HSBC announced that Bond would step down as chairman from May 2006, to be succeeded by the bank's CEO, Stephen Green
Stephen Green (banker)
Stephen Keith Green, Baron Green of Hurstpierpoint is a British Conservative politician the current Minister of State for Trade and Investment and former Group Chairman of HSBC Holdings plc...
. It was later announced that Bond would be taking over from Lord MacLaurin as chairman of the British telecommunications company Vodafone
Vodafone
Vodafone Group Plc is a global telecommunications company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest mobile telecommunications company measured by revenues and the world's second-largest measured by subscribers , with around 341 million proportionate subscribers as of...
.
During Bond's tenure as chairman, HSBC extended its reach well beyond its major franchises in Hong Kong and Britain. From 1998 to 2005, HSBC spent $47bn on acquisitions, including those of Republic National Bank, Credit Commercial de France
Crédit Commercial de France
Crédit Commercial de France was a commercial bank in France, headquartered in Paris, avenue des Champs-Élysées. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of HSBC in April 2000, and was renamed HSBC France on 1 November 2005....
, Bital Bank, Bank of Bermuda, and Household International.
He was Chairman of HSBC's Board when the Household acquisition was approved in 2003 by the Board. Household was a consumer finance business, an established business in the USA serving the 40% of the US population who are sub-prime; other major players were GE, Wells Fargo, Citigroup and AIG.
During his Chairmanship HSBC invested over USD3 billion in China by buying 20% stakes in Bank of Communications and Ping An Insurance, as well as investing in HSBC's proprietary branch network. He chaired both the China Development Forum and the Mayor of Shanghai's International Business Leaders' Advisory Council and joined the Advisory Board of Tsinghua School of Economics and Management.
Bond led HSBC to devoting considerable resources to corporate social responsibility
Corporate social responsibility
Corporate social responsibility is a form of corporate self-regulation integrated into a business model...
, recognising the bank's responsibilities to the environment and the communities in which it operates. He was also behind HSBC's strong interest in the demographic changes being wrought by an aging world.
His management style is modest, and in interviews Bond preferred to discuss HSBC rather than himself. He attributed his rise to the top of HSBC as a result of being in the right place at the right time. In an interview in 2005 (below), he noted being driven more by a fear of failure, of letting down shareholders, customers and staff, rather than a sense of personal aggrandisement.
Bond was a Director of the Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
. He has been a governor of the English-Speaking Union
English-Speaking Union
The English-Speaking Union is an international educational charity which was founded by the journalist Evelyn Wrench in 1918. The ESU aims to "bring together and empower people of different languages and cultures," by building skills and confidence in communication, such that individuals realize...
, and was chairman of the Institute of International Finance
Institute of International Finance
The Institute of International Finance, Inc. is the world's only global association of financial institutions. It was created by 38 banks of leading industrialised countries in 1983 in response to the international debt crisis of the early 1980s...
from 1998 to 2003.
Personal information
He was born in OxfordOxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
, and educated at Tonbridge School
Tonbridge School
Tonbridge School is a British boys' independent school for both boarding and day pupils in Tonbridge, Kent, founded in 1553 by Sir Andrew Judd . It is a member of the Eton Group, and has close links with the Worshipful Company of Skinners, one of the oldest London livery companies...
. His family's roots are in Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
. Bond failed to gain admittance to Oxford University, so on leaving school he spent two years in the USA, one as an English-Speaking Union scholarship student at Cate School
Cate School
The Cate School, established in 1910 by Curtis Wolsey Cate, is a four-year, coeducational, college-preparatory boarding school in Carpinteria, California, United States....
, near Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
, before being given passage on a ship from Long Beach
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...
to Hong Kong as a deck hand.
Bond is married to Elizabeth, Lady Bond, with whom he has two daughters and a son. His elder daughter Annabelle Bond
Annabelle Bond
Annabelle Bond , is an international adventurer and activist, who came to prominence after climbing the summit of Mount Everest on 15 May 2004, making her the fourth British woman to do so....
is the fourth British woman to have climbed Mt Everest and the woman to have scaled the Seven Summits
Seven Summits
The Seven Summits are the highest mountains of each of the seven continents. Summiting all of them is regarded as a mountaineering challenge, first postulated as such and achieved on April 30, 1985 by Richard Bass .-Definition:...
in the briefest period of time.
He was knighted in 1999 for his services to banking.
In March 2007 at the European Business Awards he was given a lifetime achievement award.