HSBC has created the new position of head of retail banking and wealth management for Europe.

HSBC had named Antonio Simoes as head of retail banking and wealth management for Europe, while also appointing a new chief executive for its asset management business and a chief of staff to the group CEO.

The retail and wealth management leadership position for Europe is a newly-created one, in which Simoes will report to Paul Thurston, CEO for retail and wealth management, and Brian Robertson, CEO of HSBC Bank.

Simoes, who is currently group head of strategy and planning, will be appointed as an executive director of HSBC Bank, HSBC France and HSBC Turkey as part of his new role. Simoes has been with HSBC since 2007, when he joined from McKinsey & Co, where he was a London-based partner.

Meanwhile, the new CEO of HSBC Asset Management will be Sridhar Chandrasekharan, currently global head of wholesale within the asset management business. He will succeed John Flint, who is transferring from the CEO role to take up that of chief of staff to the group CEO and group head of strategy and planning.

All three appointments are effective from 1 January, subject to regulatory and board approvals.

In other developments, the bank hit the headlines yesterday when the UK tax authority said it is soon to contact UK account holders at HSBC in Geneva, and that criminal and serious fraud investigations have already been started with more than 500 account holders after information came to light via the conditions of a tax treaty.

Information that came to light under the treaty revealed that more than 6,000 individuals, companies, trusts and other bodies held accounts and investments with HSBC Geneva, HMRC said.

The tax authority said account holders will be “offered a window of opportunity” to contact HMRC and disclose any unpaid tax liabilities. Otherwise, the HMRC will investigate their affairs with criminal penalties of up to 200 per cent, it said.