Former Bank of Bermuda boss Henry Smith effectively quits the bank after 31 years today, capping off a career that saw him rise through the ranks of the Island's biggest bank from teller to CEO.

Although officially working until the end of the month, Bank of Bermuda spokesman Peter Smith yesterday told The Royal Gazette that Mr. Smith, 55, was leaving the Island today for the Christmas holidays and would not be returning to Bermuda before the official end of his time with the bank.

Mr. Smith was effectively pushed out of the top job in tandem with the bank's sale to multinational banking giant HSBC Plc in February.

At that time he was succeeded by second in command, Philip Butterfield, who was promoted from COO to CEO the very day the sale closed.

Mr. Butterfield was recruited by Mr. Smith to the bank after an illustrious career in the US with Citibank, joining the bank in 2000 as chief administration officer.

Since February, when the sale was voted through by a majority of shareholders, Mr. Smith has served as the bank's executive director overseeing the integration of the bank - which was global in scope, including offices in Europe and Asia - into the HSBC network.

Yesterday it was said that while the integration process is still underway, Mr. Smith would be bowing out of the process early although remaining a member of the bank's board.

In February it was said that Mr. Smith would be staying on for about a year but Peter Smith said that the framework for the bank's integration into HSBC had been established. "Integration project teams are still working, and will be for some time," he said, but added that the "key high-level oversight" that had been Mr. Smith's responsibility had effectively been completed.

Although it is not clear what Mr. Smith will do now that he is leaving the bank, he may be in a financial position to take his time with that decision as he is due a bonus package worth millions as part of the bank's sale to HSBC. Although Mr. Smith was not yesterday available for an interview, the man at the helm of the Island's largest bank for seven years - and the one who oversaw a number of milestones including its getting exemption from the 40/60 foreign-Bermuda ownership rule paving the way for the bank's eventual listing on the Nasdaq and then the bank's historical sale earlier this year to multinational banking giant HSBC Plc for $1.3 billion - said in a report last November that he thought he would not retire at the early age of 55 but eventually look for another job.

At the time, Mr. Smith said HSBC had "made it clear to me that they will not need my services after a period of time. That would be the time it would take to bed the transaction, make sure everybody is settled. I am committed to them for one year".

He continued: "Part of me is a little disappointed to leave the place I have worked in for 30 years - and by then it will be 31 years. I'm losing my job. That is a fact, I will lose my job.

"I could retire at that age, but in terms of my abilities and my desires, I am well before retirement age; I am going to have to go find another job," he said.

As for what he will do after the bank, which is the only place he has ever worked, Mr. Smith said he could look at opportunities overseas, but may take a breather first.

Exactly how much Mr. Smith stands to make individually as part of the bonus agreement reached with HSBC has not been made public but it is known that he and four other senior executives - CEO Mr. Butterfield, head of private client services Wayne Chapman, head of banking services Michael Collins and head of the bank's fund administration arm, Global Fund Services, Paul Smith - together stand to make more than $11 million, broken down as $6.6 million in cash and a further $4.7 million in HSBC shares that would vest in three years.

Although the latter four must meet certain targets - defined as 150 bank staff being redundant while 70 percent of those employees defined as "key" are retained in the first year under HSBC - to get the pay out, it was reported that Henry Smith's bonus payment was not tied to the targets, and was to be paid when he left the bank.