HSBC Unexpectedly Taps Nelson as Chair After Tucker’s Reign (3)

HSBC Holdings Plc unexpectedly appointed Brendan Nelson as its next chair, choosing an insider to replace hard-charging financier Mark Tucker who has led Europe’s largest lender for much of the last decade.

The decision follows a “process that considered both internal and external candidates,” the London-headquartered bank said in a statement on Wednesday. Nelson, 76, who had been serving as interim group chair since Oct. 1, joined the board in September 2023.

He takes the reins after the lender struggled to find a suitable external candidate following a shortlist of names that included former politician George Osborne and financiers such ...