HSBC seeks new investment banking CIO as Sumeet Chabria leaves

HSBC is looking for a new IT head in its investment banking arm after Sumeet Chabria decided to pursue a new career after 21 years at the bank.

Chabria, CIO global banking and markets, decided to leave HSBC and return to his native US for personal reasons.  

HSBC has been working on a replacement, which could be an internal promotion. An internal memo sent to staff in the bank said: “A shortlist of CIO candidates has been reviewed based on our succession planning and we are in the final stages of making an offer. This will be announced in due course.”

The memo added: “After some 21 years at HSBC, eight of those based in London, Sumeet has decided to return to his home in the US in order to be closer to family and to pursue a new career there.”

Chabria was a computer science graduate at Stony Brook University, New York. He has held a range of senior IT roles at HSBC, including CIO for the global banking and markets division in the Americas.

The bank said it tried to retain Chabria in some way. “Together with Sumeet, we looked at ways to keep him in the role while supporting his return to the US, but collectively decided this was not practical.”

Computer Weekly interviewed Chabria in November.

At the time, he said huge change was under way in the investment banking sector as it recovered from the banking meltdown that began in 2008, and IT was central to it. He said investment banks were moving more to electronic platforms across their businesses, facing regular changes in industry regulation, while becoming digital from front to back.

Chabria's departure is not the only change at the top at HSBC. The bank recently appointed Darryl West, who left Barclays in December, as group CIO. West left his previous role as CIO of Lloyds Banking Group to take up a similar position at Barclays in November 2013. He was group CIO and deputy chief operations and technology officer when he left Barclays.