HSBC executive Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles steps down after racism row
HSBC director Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles resigns after racism row
Row: Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles
A leading HSBC executive and Britain’s former ambassador to Saudi Arabia will resign after calling Britain “weak” in dealing with China and telling students that “the Arab mind is empty.”
Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, the bank’s head of public affairs, will leave his position next month, according to Bloomberg.
Last month he was forced to apologize for calling Britain “weak” for acceding to US demands to distance itself from China.
The 68-year-old was also at the center of a racism row last month when it was revealed that he told an audience at Oxford University in July that he wished he had learned Chinese instead of Arabic when he was a diplomat because China that is. more interesting’.
He declared that “the Arab mind is empty compared to that of the Chinese,” according to sources who relayed his comments to The Mail on Sunday.
Cowper-Coles said he was speaking at a private event and that his “personal comments do not reflect the views of HSBC.”
He said, ‘I apologize for offending you.’