The Bigger Picture

HSBC is ramping up its commitment to the arts through a variety of initiatives, including a major partnership with M+, Asia's leading museum of contemporary visual culture. Luanne Lim, CEO of HSBC Hong Kong, discusses why art is so important to the bank— and to the city

When Luanne Lim, CEO of HSBC Hong Kong, first moved to the city in 2017, she immediately started working with colleagues from across the organisation. She was collaborating with bankers, financial controllers, technology and data analysts and, surprisingly, artists. "One of the first projects that I led in Hong Kong was the HSBC banknotes project," says Lim, which involved managing the design of a new series of HSBC's banknotes in Hong Kong. After months of debating the merits of various artistic approaches, Lim and the team chose delicate watercolour designs reflecting the city's rich culture for the notes, which were released in 2018.

"Through working on the banknotes-through art-I learnt about my new home," says Lim, who is from Singapore and has worked for HSBC since 1999, in her home country, China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam and now at the bank's Asia headquarters in Hong Kong. She first moved to the city as Chief Operating Officer before becoming CEO in February 2022.

The banknotes project was also helpful because it gave Lim a deeper understanding of one of HSBC's long-held areas of interest: art. "HSBC has always supported the arts, for all of its 157-year history, although people might not have known the depth of our engagement," says Lim. "Now we're finally telling that story."