HSBC announced today that its Group Chief Sustainability Officer Celine Herweijer will be stepping down from her role and departing the bank at the end of the year. The firm said that Julian Wentzel, currently Head of Global Banking, MENAT, will be assuming the position of Interim Group Chief Sustainability Officer. Notably, the announcement follows a restructuring decision by HSBC in October to replace its 18-member Group Executive Committee with a leaner 12-member Group Operating Committee, with the Chief Sustainability Officer no longer included on the bank's leading decision-making executive committee. Herweijer joined HSBC in 2021 as Group Chief Sustainability Officer and a member of the Group Executive Committee, and has overseen the development of the bank's net zero strategy, including its portfolio decarbonization targets.