HSBC appoints its first-ever Head of Sustainable Finance for Europe Commercial Banking

HSBC has appointed its current Ireland CEO and Head of Banking Alan Duffy as its first-ever Head of Sustainable Finance for Europe Commercial Banking.

In this role, Mr Duffy will drive the bank’s efforts to help business customers in Europe make the transition to net zero carbon emissions.

This is a key element of HSBC Commercial Banking’s strategy to be the leading international corporate bank in Europe, and is also part of the HSBC Group’s ‘Business Plan for the Planet’; a set of actions and a commitment of between US$750bn and US$1trn to drive sustainable transitions around the world.

“Europe is the gravitational centre for global sustainable finance, both in terms of setting policy and overall market activities. A rapidly increasing number of our European clients are establishing Science Based targets (SBTs) to anchor their transition journeys and to embed ESG in their operations. We must be positioned at the epicentre of this once-in-a-generation transformation,” Mr Duffy said.

“Being afforded the opportunity to help our teams support our clients in such a cutting edge and rich ecosystem is compelling. I am looking forward to drawing on the cultural diversity of our European business and the opportunity to help cross-pollinate ideas and best practice from within the region and from the wider HSBC Group,” he continued.

Mr Duffy joined HSBC IN 2007 to launch the bank’s Irish corporate banking offering before becoming CEO in 2013. He will keep serving as CEO and Head of Banking at HSBC Ireland until a new appointment is made to that position.

“I am looking forward to working with Alan and drawing on his vast experiences to support our local commercial customers in their transition journeys,” Joyce Grech, Head of Commercial Banking at HSBC Malta said.