MOSCOW, August 5. /TASS/. John Flint, the chief executive officer of the HSBC Holdings Plc, has stepped down from his post, Bloomberg news agency announced on Monday.

Noel Quinn has been appointed a temporary chief executive of the bank following the announced retirement of John Flint.

According to the news agency, "John Flint is giving up the role he has held for a year and a half ‘by mutual agreement with the board,’" and "Noel Quinn takes over as interim chief executive."

Noel Quinn has been the head of the Global Commercial Banking department since 2015 and worked with HSBC for 32 years.

"I have agreed with the board that today’s good interim results indicate that this is the right time for change, both for me and the bank," Flint was quoted as saying in a statement on Monday.

"After almost 30 years with HSBC, I will be sad to leave but I do so looking forward to a new personal challenge," Flint added.

According to Bloomberg, HSBC delivered "the announcement as it reported a 15.8% rise in pre-tax profit to $12.4 billion for the six months to June 30".