An aircraft flies past the HSBC headquarters building in the Canary Wharf financial district in east London February 15, 2015. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls/Files

By Selena Li, Lawrence White and Himanshi Akhand

Dec 3 (Reuters) - HSBC Holdings' interim chairman Brendan Nelson will move into that role on a permanent basis, in a surprise move that came seven months after the Asia-focused lender started a search to replace its former chair Mark Tucker.

The news of the appointment of one of the biggest roles in global finance comes a day after HSBC CEO Georges Elhedery said that Nelson had expressed a desire not to do the chairman's job for six to nine years at the current stage of his career.

In its filing with the Hong Kong stock exchange on Wednesday, HSBC said that the decision to appoint Nelson followed a robust process that considered both internal and external candidates. The statement did not elaborate.

Nelson, 76, will oversee the further pursuit of a refined strategy under Elhedery following a sweeping restructuring he undertook in October last year to scale back Western operations and deepen the lender's focus on Asia, its biggest market.

Geopolitical uncertainties will remain a challenge for Nelson's team as HSBC tries to grow its business in China at a time of escalating trade tensions with the United States and other major economies.

The bank said at its half-year earnings the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump's trade tariffs could cause it to miss its profitability target of a mid-teens return on tangible equity in future years.

London-headquartered HSBC generates more than half of its revenues and profit from Asia. Over the past month, media reports, citing sources, had named some external candidates as frontrunners for the role.

"This appears to have been an utterly haphazard selection process and points to a lack of succession planning for what is one of the most important roles in global finance," said John Cronin, independent bank analyst at SeaPoint Insights.

'BANKING CREDENTIALS'

Nelson has been serving as interim chair since October 1 and joined the lender's board in September 2023. He was the former head of global banking at KPMG and has expertise in UK and international finance and auditing.

"Since assuming the role of interim group chair, Brendan has demonstrated his excellent leadership capabilities backed by his strong banking and governance credentials," said Ann Godbehere, the senior independent director who led the replacement process.

A hedge fund investor, whose investment portfolio includes HSBC, said Nelson's selection as the chairman was a surprise, but it was a "safe choice" for the bank. The investor declined to be named as he was not authorised to speak to the media.

Nelson was moved into the interim chair role after Tucker, HSBC's first-ever external chairman, announced his plans to step down in May after eight years at the bank. Tucker returned to insurer AIA Group as chairman on October 1.

Tucker was AIA's chief executive and president between 2010 and 2017. Compared to his predecessor, Nelson has spent almost his entire career in Britain and has no public track record of work in Asia.

"I look forward to continuing to work with the board, Georges and the wider management team as we deliver on our strategic and financial objectives," Nelson said in the Hong Kong exchange filing.

As the new chairman, Nelson will also be tasked with supervising Elhedery's efforts to grow the bank's fee-based income to make up for falling interest income as central banks cut policy rates.

SWEEPING RESTRUCTURING

HSBC shares were mostly flat in Hong Kong in the early afternoon session on Wednesday, in line with the morning trading ahead of the announcement of Nelson's appointment.

Elhedery took over as HSBC CEO in September 2024 and has since launched a sweeping restructuring of the bank, slashing back its presence in Western markets, cutting out layers of management and doubling down on a strategic pivot to Asia.

The cuts included exiting its mergers and acquisitions and some equities businesses in Europe and the Americas.

Nelson worked at KPMG for more than 25 years in senior roles including global chairman of banking and global chairman of financial services. He has previously been on the boards of BP plc and NatWest Group, according to the HSBC website.

Nelson will remain as the chair of HSBC's group audit committee until the bank's 2025 results are published in February 2026, the bank filing said, adding, he would then be replaced in that role.

(Reporting by Himanshi Akhand, Sneha Kumar, Tommy Reggiori Wilkes, Lawrence White, Selena Li, Kane Wu; writing by Scott Murdoch. Editing by Sumeet Chatterjee and Shri Navaratnam)