Name: Ken Harvey

Title: Group CIO and group general manager

Company: HSBC

In 2004 Ken Harvey became group general manager and group CIO of HSBC with responsibility for an annual global IT budget of almost $5bn and the development, implementation and operation of the bank's IT systems.

In his role as CIO Harvey last year publicly laid out HSBC's IT strategy and achievements to the financial analyst community as the bank nears the end of a five-year overhaul of IT systems.

Almost half of the bank's software development now takes place in lower-cost overseas locations, while reduced transaction processing costs have allowed HSBC to absorb 25 per cent growth in its credit card business at no extra incremental cost.

US-born Harvey joined HSBC in 1989 and has risen steadily through the ranks in a range of roles along the way to landing the top IT job, including VP of HSBC's Canadian operations, director of banking systems, IT director of HFC Bank and group executive and CIO for HSBC subsidiary Household International.

Harvey's career path has largely been in IT and financial services. He started his career in data processing for a regional savings and loan company and has held a number of positions in technology and marketing at several major banking and consulting organisations.

Harvey also holds advisory positions in local governmental and charitable committees and serves on the boards of Chicago-based IT consulting firm Kanbay International and HSBC Software Development.

Harvey has a degree in finance from Chicago's DePaul University, is certified in multiple programming languages and is widely recognised for his expertise in real-time financial transaction processing.