HSBC Holdings Plc’s head of global banking sustainability, Alexi Chan, is planning to take a five-month sabbatical starting next month, according to a memo.

Chan sits on the global banking and markets executive committee and has worked as a dealmaker for more than two decades at the bank’s London, Hong Kong and Singapore offices, the memo said. An HSBC spokesperson confirmed the contents of the memo.

Chan “plans to spend more time with his family and explore a number of personal interests,” according to the memo. He will return to HSBC in late November.

HSBC has been focusing on sustainability, boosting hires and lending in that area. Last year, it launched a $5 billion fund to finance sustainable lending to companies in the Greater Bay Area. The bank is active in arranging debt deals. It ranked sixth place in the global sustainable bonds arranger rankings, helping borrowers raise $18.02 billion so far this year, according to Bloomberg-compiled data.

Mary MacLeod will assume oversight of global banking sustainability and issuer services activity while Chan is away, according to the memo.

--With assistance from Harry Wilson.