City of London bank analysts broadly welcomed the prospect of a Douglas Flint and Stuart Gulliver leadership team at HSBC, but heavily criticised the way in which the succession process has been handled and raised questions over the bank's future strategy.

The prospect of chief financial office Douglas Flint taking the role of chairman, with Michael Geoghegan stepping down as chief executive and investment banking chief Stuart Gulliver stepping up to the group role, was welcomed this morning by analysts.