It could take years for HSBC to become more of a household name, and it may never be able to rival Citi on that score. Nevertheless, Bond is determined to finish the job that Purves started of turning HSBC into a top-performing, truly global bank. Bond's goal is to balance earnings equally between developed and developing countries. So he's going to keep making strategic acquisitions. He's looking at two banks in Thailand, Bangkok Metropolitan and Siam City Bank.
Bond has plenty of strengths to leverage.
The bank already ranks among the most profitable. And it's true that HSBC's profit performance varies sharply from market to market. In Asia outside of Hong Kong, for example, HSBC has run into trouble. But HSBC Bank Malaysia Berhad plans to cut its workforce by 1,000 people by yearend. Meanwhile, the recession in Argentina is hurting profits as HSBC boosts its provisions for bad loans.