23rd December 2025 – (Hong Kong) HSBC has appointed former Citigroup senior executive Ida Liu to lead its global private banking division, nearly a year after she left the U.S. lender following tensions with its head of wealth, Andy Sieg.
Liu, one of Citi’s most prominent female leaders, had spent the past four years running the U.S. bank’s private banking arm. She began her career in investment banking before moving into the fashion industry, later returning to finance with a focus on serving high net worth and ultra-high net worth clients.
Barry O’Byrne, chief executive of HSBC’s international wealth and premier banking business, said the bank was “delighted” to bring Liu on board. “She brings deep expertise in strategic wealth advisory, operational transformation and business growth, and a consistent track record of delivering results,” he said.
Liu, who spent around half of her investment banking career in Asia, described her move to HSBC as coming at a “defining moment for wealth”. HSBC confirmed she will take up her new role on 5th January.
Wealth management has been placed at the heart of HSBC’s strategy under group chief executive Georges Elhedery, who is seeking to streamline the bank’s global footprint and scale back or exit less profitable activities. The group’s wealth business had previously been overseen by Annabel Spring, who departed after HSBC split her position during an internal reorganisation. Since then, Gabriel Castello has been acting in the role on an interim basis.
In her new post, Liu will concentrate on the bank’s most affluent clients and on “strengthening cross-border connectivity across key wealth corridors”, HSBC said. According to a person familiar with the appointment, she will be based in London after an initial transition period in New York.
“Clients today are increasingly global, entrepreneurial and multigenerational, creating a powerful opportunity to elevate how private banking serves families and founders worldwide,” Liu said in a statement.
Her departure from Citi came after friction with Sieg, who was recruited from Bank of America in 2023 with a mandate to overhaul the U.S. bank’s wealth management operations. Sieg faced several internal complaints over his conduct, prompting Citi to commission an external review by law firm Paul Weiss. The bank ultimately backed Sieg and, last month, expanded his responsibilities by placing most of its retail banking activities under the wealth management division he runs.
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