By Andrei Skvarsky
Stuart Lawson, the head of HBSC in Russia, has left his role in the latest big name departure at a foreign bank in Moscow.
Lawson's surprise exit after just over two years in charge follows the departure of Bernie Sucher, country head of Bank of America Merrill Lynch, last month. Steve Meehan, the Russian boss at Swiss bank UBS, also announced this month he will be taking his leave and will be replaced by Nick Jordan, who previously headed Lehman Brothers in Moscow.
A veteran of Russian banking, Lawson joined HSBC in March 2008 and was in charge of its launch of retail banking and private banking in Russia. His deputy in Moscow, Rob Carver, has been appointed on an interim basis before a replacement can be found.
Market sources indicated that the abruptness of Lawson's departure indicated that the parting of ways was not amicable. "Give the suddenness, it looks like a bullet,'' said a source close to the bank.
One senior Moscow banker said HSBC had recently scaled back its ambitions to develop its retail banking network in Russia.
Under Lawson, HSBC said it has earmarked $20om to invest in Russia through organic growth rather than by acquiring bank branches. A year ago this month, the bank opened its first retails branch on the Bulvar Ring in Moscow to much aplomb. Three more branches and one in St Petersburg were added offering middle class Russian 'premium' retail banking services provided they had big enough deposits.
Lawson was chief executive of Citibank’s Russian business in the 1990s, before becoming chairman of Russian bank Deltabank in 2001 and taking over in 2004 as chairman and chief executive of Bank Soyuz, a Russian bank controlled by oligarch Oleg Deripaska. He replaced John Hartley who remains at HSBC.
He spent 25 years total with Citigroup, serving in 11 countries in a series of management positions including head of corporate banking in Kenya, Egypt, Norway, Italy and country head roles in Russia and Puerto Rico. A Londoner, he has won several gongs as 'Russian banker of the year'.
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