HSBC has appointed Stuart Levey as chief legal officer within its London office.

Levey will work alongside Richard Bennett, group managing director and group general counsel, during a transition period, the firm said in a statement. 

Bennett is due to retire at the end of the year after spending 33 years at HSBC. He will continue as a part-time advisor to the group chief executive subsequent to his retirement. Levey now reports to group CEO Stuart Gulliver. 

In other related news, HSBC hired Antonio Simoes as head of retail banking and wealth management for Europe in October last year. Simoes was also appointed as an executive director of HSBC Bank, HSBC France and HSBC Turkey as part of his new role.

At the same time, the bank appointed Sridhar Chandrasekharan as CEO for its asset management business, as well as naming John Flint as chief of staff to the group CEO. The appointments were effective from 1 January.