HSBC Bank USA has named a new president and CEO from its Malaysian affiliate, to take the helm of the bank in January.

Irene M. Dorner, currently the deputy chairwoman and CEO of HSBC Bank Malaysia Bhd, will take over the U. S. bank s top job from Paul J. Lawrence, who is returning to London as group head of audit for parent HSBC Holdings Plc.

Dorner, 55, will relocate from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to New York, where HSBC Bank USA s top executives are based, even though the legal headquarters moved to Delaware several years ago, and last December to Tysons Corner, Va. The appointment is subject to board and certain regulatory approval, a spokesman said.

She will report to Brendan McDonagh, CEO of HSBC North America Holdings, and the company s top executive in the United States and Canada. McDonagh formerly served as chief operating officer of HSBC Bank USA and was based in Buffalo.

The U. S. bank had planned to make the formal announcement in January when she arrives, but the Malaysian unit pre-empted it with its own public announcement of Dorner s departure and her successor. Neither executive was available to comment.

Lawrence, who is also head of corporate, investment banking and markets for North America, has served in the CEO role since February 2007, following the resignation of former HSBC Finance and Household International executive Sandra Derickson following growing losses on mortgages. Before moving to New York, he was CEO of HSBC Singapore and previously the deputy CEO and then CEO of HSBC Philippines.

He joined the bank in 1982 as an executive trainee in the United Kingdom, and was sent to Marine Midland Bank in New York as a credit manager in 1985. Two years later, he moved to Hong Kong for a senior credit post, and then became an area manager for UK s Midland Bank in 1994 before moving to Asia in December 1996.

Dorner, the first woman to lead HSBC in Malaysia since its formation there more than 120 years ago, has been in the Southeast Asian country since June 2007. She has been credited with the bank s growth in that country, as well as the launch of its HSBC Amanah Malaysia Bhd, the global bank s Islamic banking unit. She s also chairwoman of both the Islamic banking and Islamic insurance companies.

A lawyer by training, she joined the merchant banking arm of Midland Bank in 1982, a decade before it was acquired by HSBC. She was named chief operating officer of treasury and capital markets at HSBC Midland in 1995, and then took over treasury and capital markets sales in 1998.

She was named general manager of marketing for HSBC Bank Plc in 1999, general manager of human resources for the British unit in 2001 and then oversaw the bank s branch network of 380 offices and 3,900 employees in northern England, Scotland and Northern Ireland from 2003 to 2006. She was general manager of premier and wealth management at HSBC Bank Plc until moving to Malaysia.

The Malaysian bank has 40 branches, plus four Amanah offices, and employs more than 5,000, not including 3,000 at a separate data processing center. It offers retail banking, credit cards, global wealth management, foreign exchange, capital markets, trust services and insurance. HSBC first opened in the country in 1884.

It s the largest foreign provider of Islamic banking and wealth management in the country, which means its products comply with Shariah, or Islamic law regarding the payment of interest and other factors. It also developed an Islamic insurance product, called takaful, and an Islamic credit card and mortgage.

HSBC normally rotates its senior executives not only within a country but globally every two to three years, ensuring they amass a breadth of experience while also bringing fresh eyes to its business lines and geographic markets.