Global financial services group HSBC is launching HSBC Infrastructure Finance (HIF), a new business unit aimed at pursuing infrastructure financing and project finance advisory opportunities associated with the transition to a low carbon economy, according to an internal memo by Greg Guyett, HSBC’s CEO of Global Banking and Markets, seen by ESG Today.

The bank also announced the appointment of former UK Member of Parliament Danny Alexander as CEO of the new business.

The launch of the new unit follows the release earlier this year by HSBC of its first Net Zero Transition Plan, outlining the global bank’s strategy to finance and support the transition to net zero, and to meet the climate goals it has set over the past few years. In 2020, HSBC set a 2050 net zero target, which included a commitment to align its financing activities with the goals of the Paris Agreement, and the bank also pledged that it will increasingly prioritize financing and investment that contributes to the low carbon transition, and set a goal to support customers with between $750 billion and $1 trillion of finance and investment by 2030 to help with their transition.

According to the memo, the new unit will incorporate elements of HSBC’s Global Banking Real Asset Finance, including infrastructure finance, export finance, and portfolio management, in addition to reactivating the firm’s Project Finance Advisory capability.

In a LinkedIn post following the announcement, Guyett said:

“We have a leading presence in the regions where infrastructure needs to be developed and financed to enable a just transition to a low carbon economy. We also look to support the UK government’s program to build critical infrastructure in Britain to grow the economy whilst decarbonising it.”

Alexander will join HSBC in his new role in November, after serving for nine years at Beijing-based multilateral development bank the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), most recently as Vice President for Policy and Strategy. Prior to joining AIIB, he served for ten years as Member of Parliament, including holding cabinet posts as Secretary of State for Scotland and Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

In a post announcing the appointment, Alexander said:

“I am hugely excited to be joining HSBC in November, as Chief Executive of HSBC Infrastructure Finance. HIF will pursue a meaningful share of Infrastructure financing and advisory opportunities associated with the transition to a low carbon economy in strategic markets.”