De Castries, 61, will retire at the start of September, ending 16 years at the helm of AXA, the Paris-based insurer said in a statement Monday.
Advertisement
Following de Castries retirement, Thomas Buberl will become CEO and a member of Axa’s board of directors and Denis Duverne will take the role of non-executive chairman of the board of directors.
Castries is seen as a front-runner to take over from Douglas Flint as HSBC chairman, having joined the bank’s board past year.
A spokesman for HSBC in London dismissed the report as “speculation” in an email to AFP.
Speaking on behalf of the board of directors, Norbert Dentressangle added: “In 2015, while progressing on the execution of an intense digital transformation, Axa successfully achieved its five-year strategic plan, and delivered record underlying earnings, which represents an eightfold increase during Henri de Castries’ tenure as chief executive”.
“I know there is some sort of fantasy that I saw this morning regarding HSBC”, Henri de Castries told journalists. HSBC said last week that it had begun to look for a replacement for Flint and expected to nominate someone in 2017.
Britain’s bank has already promised that its next chairman will not be selected from its top management team – breaking with tradition – and appoint an outsider to the role.
De Castries announcement came in the form of a letter to staff, in which he said the decision was “not without emotion”.
AXA shares climbed 0.8 percent to stand at 21.76 euros in afternoon trading on the Paris stock exchange, while the blue-chip CAC-40 index fell 0.9 percent.
Advertisement
Since joining AXA in 2012, he has headed the group’s life and savings business as well as its health line.
