YEREVAN, January 22. /ARKA/. On Thursday, Astrid Clifford, who will succeed Tim Slater, chief executive officer of HSBC, on February 1, expressed hope for continuation of cooperation with all the organizations of Armenia.

At the reception held by HSBC Bank Armenia, she thanked the bank for a warm welcome and said the first meetings in Armenia made a good impression on her.
She said that 2009 was a hard year to Armenia and the entire world, but the bank keeps developing successfully.

Tim Slater, welcoming his successor, said Astrid Clifford has 19-year experience of working at HSBC banks in nine countries.

He hopes that the bank in Armenia will develop successfully under her management.
Slater thanked the bank’s personnel for work and the Armenia’s central bank of and government for support. He said he would leave the country for Argentina, where 70,000 Armenian live.

That is why he hopes he will feel at home there.

He said he would bring with him not only pleasant memories from Armenia, but also Armenian wife.

Vache Gabrielyan, deputy chairman of the Central bank of Armenia, who spoke at the reception as well, congratulated Clifford on her appointment and wished her a good luck in office.

Astrid Clifford has been with HSBC Group for 19 years as an International Manager. During this time she has worked in nine countries, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Vietnam, Oman, Dubai, India, USA, Jersey and the UK, holding various executive posts in most areas of banking, including Retail, Commercial, Operations, Audit, HR and Training.

Before coming to Armenia, Astrid Clifford was Regional Head of Insurance for HSBC Bank Middle East Limited, based in Dubai. She holds an undergraduate degree in Psychology and a Masters in Economics from the London School of Economics.

Tim Slater, who has held a variety of posts during his 25 year career with HSBC Group, will take up a new role in Buenos Aires as Chief Risk Officer of HSBC Bank Argentina S.A.

HSBC Holdings plc, the parent company of the HSBC Group, is headquartered in London. The Group serves customers worldwide from around 8,500 offices in 86 countries and territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa. With assets of US$2,422 billion at 30 June 2009, HSBC is one of the world’s largest banking and financial services organisations. HSBC is marketed worldwide as ‘the world’s local bank’. -0-