HSBC adviser who criticised the US is set to join China’s AIIB

The process is ongoing and there’s no certainty Cowper-Coles will accept the role

HSBC Holdings’ former head of public affairs, who once criticised the US for strong-arming the UK into cutting back dealings with China, is about to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in Beijing.

Sherard Cowper-Coles will take up a senior role at AIIB, which was established as a Chinese-led counterweight to the likes of Western-dominated multilateral lending institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, sources familiar with the matter said, asking not to be identified discussing non-public information.

The process is ongoing and there’s no certainty Cowper-Coles will accept the role, the sources said. Cowper-Coles and HSBC declined to comment, while the AIIB did not respond to a request for a comment.

After kicking off operations in 2016, AIIB has sought to transform itself into a major international development bank, specialising in infrastructure funding, particularly to projects linked to green initiatives.

With headquarters in Beijing and a former Chinese finance official as its first president, it was viewed by the US and some of its allies as a vehicle to advance China’s foreign policy interests. Japan has declined to participate, though the Japanese-led Asian Development Bank is a partner.

In the years since its founding, AIIB’s membership has grown to more than 100 countries, with the UK listed as one of the founding members. Among the bank’s first employees was former senior British politician, Danny Alexander, who helped establish its operations before leaving in 2024 to join HSBC, where he’s now head of infrastructure finance and sustainability.

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Cowper-Coles, who was a British diplomat, has been known for some controversial comments. At a closed-door London event in mid-2023, he raised eyebrows after telling those present that the UK should stop following Washington blindly and instead pursue its own interests, sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg News at the time.

He subsequently apologised for those comments. He later set up his own consulting firm and stepped down as HSBC’s head of public affairs – a position from which he had overseen public policy and government relations around the world for HSBC and advised chairman Mark Tucker and senior executives on geopolitics. In November 2023, the British lender said that he would stay on as a part-time consultant.

Before joining HSBC in 2013, Cowper-Coles had worked as a senior adviser to British defence contractor BAE Systems. He previously spent 30 years working for the UK’s Foreign Office, including stints as the country’s ambassador to Israel, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan. BLOOMBERG