Why Westerman’s departure from HSBC became inevitable

For all that banks have been forced by regulation to resemble one another more closely since the financial crisis, one of the joys of covering global finance is to understand that all banks remain distinctive animals. These institutions have their own personalities, forged over long periods of time and by generations of leaders and troops. Most people call it culture.

Too often the people running these banks forget that. I have lost count of the number of times a new hire has been brought into a senior role at a bank from outside.