Bulletin Autumn‧Winter 2005

b e g an to d i s p l ay th e qualities of leadership, respect f o r o t h e rs a n d s o c i al c o n c e rn t h a t h a ve m a r k e d b o t h his later b a n k i n g career a n d his tireless p u b l ic servic e t o the H o n g K o n g c o mm u n i t y. H e w a s a n active m e m b e r o f s t u d e nt o r g a n i z a t i o n s, b e c o m i n g V i c e - President of the U n i v e r s i t y S t u d e nt U n i o n i n the second y e a r o f its existence. H e w a s also c h a i r man of the Society of C u r r e nt A f f a i rs at N e w A s ia College. H e r ema i n ed clos e to his p r o f e s s o rs d e s p i t e d i f f e r e n c es o f o p i n i o n, c o n v i n c ed t h at respec t s h o u l d p r e v a i l o v er a r g ume n t s. A l o n g w i t h hi s teacher f r i e n ds a n d f e l l ow s t u d e n t s, h e h e l p e d to set u p a n e w s e c o n d a r y school i n K o w l o o n a i me d at p r o v i d i n g free e d u c a t i on to p o o r children. W h e n h e d e s c r i b es h i s c a r e e r as a b a n k i n g executive, M r . C h e n g s i m p l y says t h at he w a s f o r t u n a t e t o be i n t h e r i g h t p l a c e a t t h e r i g h t t i me . T he r i g h t plac e w a s t h e H S BC a n d t h e r i g h t t i m e w a s 1978. H e rose r a p i d l y t o b e c o m e C h i e f F i n a n c i a l Officer i n 1994. H o w e v e r m u c h he p l a y s d o w n his o w n talents, M r . C h e n g is c l e a r l y a r e m a r k a b l e m a n . I n h i s c a p a b le hands, H a n g Seng Ba nk — o f w h i c h he w a s V i c e - C h a i r m an a n d C h i e f E x e c u t i ve f r o m 1998 u n t i l M a y t h is y e a r — r e a c h e d n e w h e i g h t s a n d w o n f u r t h e r r e c o g n i t i o n as a wo r l d - c l a ss b a n k . I n the Financial Times' FT G l o b a l 500 t o p w o r l d c omp a n i es list, H a n g S e n g r a n k e d 42 b y m a r k e t v a l u e w h e n c omp a r ed w i t h other banks as at 31st M a r c h 2 0 0 5. I t w a s n a m e d ‘ B e s t D o m e s t i c C o mm e r c i a l B a n k i n H o n g K o n g ' i n M a y 2003 a n d ‘ S t r o n g e s t B a n k i n A s i a ' b y Asiamoney i n M a r c h 2001 , t o p p i n g t h e r a n k i n g s f o r A s i a n b a n k s f o r t h e s e c o n d successive year. F r om 199 9 u n t i l the e n d of 2003, H a n g Seng a c h i e v ed a t o t a l r e t u r n o f 106.3 pe r cent f or shareholders , as me a s u r ed b y share pric e a p p r e c i a t i on a n d r e i n v e s t ed d i v i d e n d s. This w a s substantially mo r e t h a n the average r e t u rn o f 46.2 per cent r e c o r d ed b y H a n g Seng I n d e x c o n s t i t u e n ts o v e r the s ame p e r i o d. I n a b s o l u t e t e r m s , t h e t o t a l s h a r e h o l d er v a l u e i n c r e a s e d b y HK $ 1 4 0 .7 b i l l i o n i n the f i v e - y e ar p e r i o d. H a n g Seng' s a t t r i b u t a b l e p r o f i t to s h a r e h o l d e rs rose to a r e c o r d H K $ 1 1 .4 b i l l i o n i n 2004, u p f r o m HK $ 6 , 7 8 8 m i l l i o n i n 1998 w h e n M r . C h e n g j o i n e d th e bank. I n 2004, M r . C h e ng receive d a D i r e c t or o f the Year A w a r d f r o m the H o n g K o n g Institut e of Directors. Th e o u t s t a n d i n g business results, together w i t h these rankings a n d awa r d s, testify to M r . Ch e n g 's d y n a m ic a n d s o u n d leadership o f one of H o n g K o n g 's cornerstone f i n a n c i a l i n s t i t u t i o n s 一 as w e l l as his s t r o n g emphasis o n the i mp o r t a n c e of excellent c u s t ome r service. M r . C h e n g has b r o u g h t h i s preoccupation w i t h service to his n e w role at HSBC. A t H a n g Seng M r . C h e n g h a d t r a n s f o r m e d the b a n k ' s business m o d e l f r o m a f o c u s o n c o r p o r a te a n d m o r t g a ge l e n d i ng to a f o c us o n personal financial a nd we a l th managemen t services. A t HSB C his v i s i on is of a b a n k w i t h w h i c h c l i e n t s a n d s h a r e h o l d e rs a l i k e are pleased to be associated, w h e r e emp l o y e es are p r o u d to w o r k 一 an i n s t i t u t i on respecte d for its i n t e g r i t y a n d k n o w n for p r o v i d i ng the best s o l u t i o ns t o its c u s t ome r s . G i v e n t h a t HSBC operates i n so m a n y d i f f e r e n t c u l t u r a l a n d economic environments, thi s client focus i n v o l v e s o p e r a t i ng w i t h l o c al k n o w l e d g e a n d s e n s i t i v i t y t o l o c a l c u l t u r e . M r . C h e n g encourages b a n k employees t o c o n t r i b u te to the d e v e l o pme n t of the local c ommu n i t i e s i n w h i c h t h e y w o r k , w o r k i n g as v o l u n t e e r s a nd d o n a t i n g t o l o c a l c h a r i t i e s. B y g e t t i n g For him, leadership in any organization involves vision, the power to communicate it, the ability to harness support from colleagues and the ability to adapt to change. But above all leadership involves the capacity to listen to advice and a genuine concern for every member of the team. The 62nd Congregation 2 5