The start of a new year is the perfect time to set fresh goals for the future and for some bank chiefs, 2016 means there will be a renewed focus on succession planning and recruitment.

The movement of senior executives between major financial institutions happens everyday but most recently, Standard Chartered scored big by tapping HSBC veteran Simon Cooper to serve as the London-based company’s corporate and institutional banking head. Cooper has been with HSBC for 26 years and was chief executive of global commercial banking—he was considered a possible successor to HSBC’s group CEO’s role Stuart Gulliver.

A Financial Times article said that Cooper’s departure from HSBC after 26 years maybe a sign that he might have grown impatient waiting to take on the reigns of the British bank. At the same time, Cooper’s move has left many industry experts wondering: how long should bank chiefs stay in their position before giving up their role as a possible CEO contender.

On the other side of the spectrum, JP Morgan’s Jamie Dimon and Goldman Sachs’ Lloyd Blankfein are two of the longest-serving head honchos in the world and have helped their banks weather the 2008 financial crisis and the keep abreast of the ever-changing regulatory conditions, the article said. 

One technique Dimon has employed is rotating his senior executives around different departments in order to prepare them to take on a top position. But there’s a downside to this, however, usually executives who become influential and well known tend to jump ship faster than expected.

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