Author: James W. Brown

London – HSBC Holdings Plc today announced the appointment of Georges Elhedery as its next Group Chief Executive, effective September 2. Elhedery, currently the bank’s Chief Financial Officer, will take over the reins from outgoing CEO Noel Quinn. Quinn’s departure, announced in April, marks the end of a nearly five-year tenure guiding the bank through the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical complexities. He will officially step down on April 30, 2025, after a 12-month gardening leave. Elhedery, who joined HSBC in 2023, brings with him extensive experience in Asia, Europe and the Middle East. The bank’s Board of Directors expressed confidence in his ability to lead HSBC towards sustainable growth and deliver value to shareholders. A successor to Elhedery’s current CFO role has yet to be na...

Having lived in central Paris for six years, I have learned a lot about the ups and downs of being a Parisian. I would go back in a heartbeat. But I also empathize with international visitors who arrive with a romantic vision of perfection, only to face a severe shock, known as "Paris syndrome," when reality doesn't match their expectations. Don't let this discourage you from visiting. Just make sure you know what to expect before you go. Where are the Parisians? At the end of July, many Parisians leave for their summer homes, forcing bakeries to close and restaurants to display signs reading "Fermé" (closed). However, this summer is different. With 11 million visitors expected for the 2024 Summer Olympics, many businesses and restaurants will remain open until August 11, before taking a ...

Stocks fell on Friday as Wall Street braced for the close of a tumultuous week dominated by shifting expectations about the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policies. The S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite both fell about 0.3%. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 278 points, or 0.7%, signaling a broader market pullback. The decline marks another day of widespread losses. However, the market is trending toward sectors that stand to benefit most from potential Federal Reserve rate decisions, such as small-cap stocks. The S&P 500 is down more than 1% this week, on pace for its worst performance since April. The Nasdaq is down nearly 3%, jeopardizing a six-week winning streak. By contrast, the Dow is up about 1% and the small-cap-focused Russell 2000 is up more than 2% th...

A large crowd is seen at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, Thailand, on July 19, 2024, due to a global cyber outage triggered by issues with Microsoft and CrowdStrike. Airlines around the world faced significant disruption on Friday, as a major cyber outage caused widespread flight delays and cancellations. The outage was caused by a major technology upgrade from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, which led to a cascade of issues affecting Microsoft systems, leaving numerous organizations scrambling to restore critical applications and services. Airports around the world have been displaying the infamous “blue screen of death” on flight update and check-in screens, indicating serious system errors. Social media has been flooded with images of disrupted services, including handwritten boarding...