John Malcolm Gray, CBE (28 July 1934 - 19 November 2009) was a Scottish businessman and the former chairman and chief executive of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation in Hong Kong from 1993 until his retirement in 1996. [1] [2] He was the third generation of his family to work for the organisation. [3] Gray was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1996. [3]
John Malcolm Gray was born in Hong Kong on 28 July 1934. [3] At the beginning of the Second World War, Samuel Gray, his father, was manager of the bank in Calcutta. [3] He sent his family to Australia for safety. [3] Gray was educated in Australia and at Strathallan School in Perthshire, Scotland. [3]
Gray's family connection with the HSBC began in 1883 when his great uncle joined the Hongkong Bank serving as its agent in Hankow. [3] His father joined the bank in 1914 and his great uncle in 1920, all of whom would become bank managers. [3]
Gray joined the London branch of the bank as a trainee in 1952 before moving out to Hong Kong in 1956. [4] Further postings with the bank led him to India, Malaysia, Brunei, France and Germany. [3] In 1979 Gray was appointed as chief accountant closely followed by several promotions in the early eighties to executive director and subsequently deputy chairman of the bank. [3] During this time he also served as chairman of James Capel, the newly acquired stockbroking arm of the organisation. [3] In 1992 he was appointed a director of the recently founded HSBC Holdings in London. [3] [5]