HSBC Holdings chief risk officer for Asia-Pacific Ed Jenkins will step down from his role at the Asia-focused lender with effect from July 1 due to family reasons, according to an internal memo.

 Jenkins, who has been with HSBC for more than a decade, took up the current role less than a year ago. He will take a sabbatical after July 1 and plans to return to the bank in October, said the memo.

A spokesperson for HSBC in Hong Kong confirmed the content of the memo.

Mark McKeown,  Jenkins' predecessor and currently the global chief corporate credit officer, and also the head of the wholesale market and credit risk, will return from the UK to Hong Kong and handle his role on an interim basis.

HSBC has been a major receipt of increasing risks across social, economic, and political fronts. In addition to the broad-based effects of the coronavirus pandemic, the bank has been spotlighted in reported tensions with pro-democracy protesters; dividend-hungry shareholders; Beijing-backed officials; British Tory members; and internal staff.

HSBC is also concurrently attempting to restart and deepen an overhaul originally targeting a giant reduction of 35,000 jobs, $4.5 BN in costs, and $100 BN in risk-weighted assets.