Photos: After Noel Quinn's sudden exit, who's in the running for HSBC CEO?

One of the biggest banking jobs after Noel Quinn's decision to step down from HSBC Holdings Plc is up for grabs.

The task of replacing the chief executive officer falls 'again' to Chairman Mark Tucker (above). A formal process is already underway to find a successor. The bank said that internal and external candidates will be considered. Here are just some of the potential CEOs-in-waiting:

GEORGES ELHEDERY: Elhedery, 50, has been CFO since January 2023. His nearly two decades at HSBC make him a prominent internal candidate for the top job.

NUNO MATOS: Matos, 56, head of wealth and personal banking, joined HSBC in 2015 from Banco Santander SA and previously worked for the Central Bank of Portugal.

BARRY O'BYRNE: Head of global commercial banking since 2020; O'Byrne also offers plenty of outside experience, having joined the firm in 2017 from GE Capital. Like Matos, O'Byrne relocated to Hong Kong as part of HSBC's shift toward growing in Asia.

CHARLIE NUNN: Before being hired to run Lloyds Banking Group Plc in 2021, Nunn spent nearly a decade at HSBC, leading wealth and personal banking and senior roles in the UK and Hong Kong. Nunn, now 52, worked under Gulliver and later survived the management cull that axed then-CEO John Flint.

AMANDA BLANC: One of the most senior women in European finance, Blanc is the chief executive officer of insurance group Aviva Plc. She has previously held leadership positions at Zurich Insurance Group AG, AXA SA and the Association of British Insurers. Blanc, 56, also sits on the board of BP Plc.

JEAN PIERRE MUSTIER: Mustier's name was in the frame the last time HSBC was recruiting for a CEO, but the French banker ruled himself out. He ran the Italian lender UniCredit SpA between 2016 and 2021. The 63-year-old is chairman of troubled French tech company Atos SE and Germany's Aareal Bank AG.