HSBC Appoints New Head of Global Trade and Receivables Finance

Published: May 05, 2022

HSBC has appointed Vivek Ramachandran as Head of Global Trade and Receivables Finance (GTRF), with immediate effect.

The appointment is a return to HSBC for Vivek, who first joined HSBC in 2015 as Global Head of Product and Propositions for GTRF, and subsequently became Global Head of Growth & Innovation for HSBC Commercial Banking. He also previously ran the Global Transaction Banking business at Barclays, and held senior management positions at Lloyds. Since 2019 Vivek has been CEO of Serai, the HSBC-founded venture based in Hong Kong, which operates as a separate entity delivering a B2B supply chain platform.

Vivek Ramachandran, Head of Global Trade and Receivables Finance (GTRF), HSBC

HSBC’s Global Trade and Receivables Finance is the world’s leading provider of international trade and supply chain finance solutions, with an unrivalled network covering over 90% of the world’s trade and capital flows. In its first quarter earnings release last week, HSBC reported strong GTRF performance, driven by a 22% increase in revenues in Commercial Banking compared with 1Q21. This performance has been underscored by record high customer satisfaction scores, and the bank achieving the top ranking in the Euromoney Trade Finance Survey – based on customer votes – for the fifth consecutive year.

Barry O’Byrne, CEO of Global Commercial Banking at HSBC, said: “We’re really excited to have Vivek rejoin HSBC - to advance our sustainable trade finance agenda, expand our product propositions, and further cement our position as the world’s leading trade bank.”

Vivek will be initially be based in Hong Kong, and will report to Barry O’Byrne and Greg Guyett, Co-CEO of HSBC Global Banking and Markets. He succeeds Ajay Sharma and Vinay Mendonca, who assumed joint interim leadership of GTRF in June 2021 in addition to their respective roles in GTRF as Regional Head of Asia-Pacific, and Global Head of Product, Propositions and Structuring.