Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles 

Chair of China-Britain Business Council and Group Head of Public Affairs, HSBC Holdings plc

Sherard has been at HSBC since 2013, working as Senior Adviser to the Group Chairman and Group Chief Executive, and more recently heading the Group’s global government and public affairs functions.  He also chairs HSBC Bank Oman. Earlier he spent over 30 years in the British Diplomatic Service, finishing his career as Ambassador to Israel, Saudi Arabia and then Afghanistan.

Sherard is Chair of the China-Britain Business Council; Chairman of the Omani British Business Council; honorary Vice President and immediate past Chairman of the UK Financial Inclusion Commission; an Ambassador for the Money Advice Trust, and for the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust; a Committee Member of The Hong Kong Association; a Board Member of Asia House and the Saudi British Business Council.  He is Chair of Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery Trust, and sat on the International Engagement Committee of the British Academy for six years from 2014.  He is the author of two books: Cables from Kabul and Ever the Diplomat.