HSBC and BOV have appointed new chief executive officers.

Charles Borg has been appointed Bank of Valletta's CEO as of December 19 while Mark Watkinson is HSBC's new CEO Malta.

Both appointments are subject to regulatory approval.

Mr Borg will succeed Tonio Depasquale who retires following the annual general meeting on December 16.

The appointment of Charles Borg follows a comprehensive evaluation and consultative process that was carried out by a special sub-committee of the board, the bank said.

Mr Borg joined the BOV in 1981, and has held a number of key senior executive positions. He is currently chief officer responsible for financial markets and investments, having been appointed to that post in 2007. He also sits on the bank's credit committee, which is responsible to the evaluation and approval of the more material credit proposals.

The board also announced the appointment of Romeo Cutajar as chief officer – financial markets and investments, in succession to Mr Borg.

Mr Cutajar joined the bank in 1981 and is currently executive head in the financial markets and investments unit. He also acts as secretary to the executive committee.

The board thanked Mr Depasquale for his 42 years of service, the last seven as CEO.

It said it was confident that Mr Borg would enjoy the full support of all his colleagues on the executive committee – and of the senior management and staff at the bank.

HSBC's current CEO Alan Richards is to be appointed CEO for Indonesia. He has been CEO in Malta since 2008. He will take up his new position based in Jakarta at the beginning of the new year and will be handing over responsibilities in Malta to Mr Watkinson in the coming weeks.

Mr Watkinson is currently head of commercial banking for North America based in New York. Mr Watkinson has worked for HSBC for 26 years. In the past 5 years, Mr Watkinson has worked in New York, in Toronto as Head of Commercial Banking for HSBC Canada and in Manila as President and Chief Executive Officer for HSBC Bank in the Philippines.