*

Restructures into four business units, slashes management

jobs

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Pam Kaur appointed as bank's first female CFO

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Lender cutting duplicate roles, shifting business focus to

Asia

(Recasts and writes throughout)

By Selena Li, Lawrence White and Sinead Cruise

HONG KONG/LONDON, Oct 22 (Reuters) - HSBC Holdings ( HSBC )

said on Tuesday it would combine its

commercial and investment banking operations in a major overhaul

under new CEO Georges Elhedery that has also seen key senior

staff depart.

Seeking to simplify the Asia-focused bank's business and

reduce costs, HSBC ( HSBC ) said it would be restructuring into four

business units and slashing senior management positions.

The new leadership structure, which includes the appointment

of Pam Kaur as the lender's first female chief financial

officer, would "unleash our full potential and drive success

into the future," Elhedery said in a memo to staff.

Elhedery, like many bank executives, is under pressure to

address climbing costs and better manage expenses.

The group is carving up its operations into four

business lines, namely UK, Hong Kong, corporate and

institutional banking and wealth banking. The new corporate and

institutional banking unit will house a newly combined

commercial banking and global banking and markets business, and

western wholesale banking businesses, including Europe and the

Americas.

Kaur, 60, who currently serves as HSBC's ( HSBC ) chief risk and

compliance officer, joined the bank in April 2013 as group head

of internal audit.

Jon Bingham, interim Group CFO, will resume his role of

Global Financial Controller, HSBC ( HSBC ) said.

In other key management changes, Greg Guyett, CEO Global

Banking and Markets, will assume a newly created role of Chair,

Strategic Clients Group. Colin Bell, CEO of HSBC Bank and

Europe, has decided to step down to pursue other opportunities.

The bank, which employs about 214,000 people globally, has

been removing duplicate roles for years and reducing its

businesses in Western markets such as the United States, France

and Canada as it focuses on Asia and markets where it has scale.