Chair – Omani British Business Council

Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles KCMG LVO 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 SAOG. Earlier he spent over 30 years in the British Diplomatic Service, which he joined straight from reading Classics at Oxford, finishing his career as Ambassador to Israel, Saudi Arabia and then Afghanistan. Before joining HSBC he worked for two and a half years for BAE Systems.

Sherard is Chairman of the China-Britain Business Council and sits on the boards of the Saudi British Business Council and Asia House. He is on the International Engagement Committee of the British Academy. Sherard is the author of two books: Cables from Kabul and Ever the Diplomat.