Criticised : Rona Fairhead will stand down as director of HSBC while continuing role at BBC . The chairman of the BBC Trust will quit her role as a director at HSBC , it was reported last night . Rona Fairhead was last month accused of being either ‘ incredibly naive or totally incompetent ’ by Margaret Hodge , chairman of the Commons public accounts committee , over her handling of a tax evasion scandal at the bank ’ s Swiss division . Now , the 53-year-old has told shareholders she will stay on for ‘ a further one-year period ’ before leaving the bank ’ s board entirely , according to The Times . She announced her departure in a letter to shareholders dated on March 20 . It marks a change in position for the bank , which said in its annual report that Mrs Fairhead would again stand for re-election . She had been on the board since 2004 . Last night , HSBC insisted that ‘ no decision has been taken at this time ’ . In a bruising encounter , Labour MP Mrs Hodge had told the BBC chief : ‘ You should think about resigning . If not , the Government should sack you. ’ Mrs Fairhead chaired HSBC ’ s audit committee and then its risk committee while its Swiss clients are said to have dodged tax . The bank was subsequently fined £1.2 billion for breaching American money-laundering laws . Last year , Mrs Fairhead earned more than £500,000 last year as chairwoman of HSBC ’ s American business . Her decision marks a change from February , when HSBC ’ s annual report said that despite having been on the board since 2004 , Mrs Fairhead would again stand for re-election . She was appionted to her role as chairwoman of the BBC Trust in October last year for a five-year term . Mrs Fairhead suggested that ‘ frontline ’ staff should bear responsibility for breaching the bank ’ s policies , during her grilling by the public accounts committee . She said : ‘ We were horrified when we discovered ( what happened ) . I can assure you absolutely no evidence of tax evasion was received . I could only respond to evidence that I had and I could only deal with that. ’ But Mrs Hodge responded that to ‘ simply take the evidence and not question . . . would mean she is not fit for purpose ’ . Under fire : Margaret Hodge , chairman of the Commons public accounts committee ( left ) , called on Fairhead to quit or be sacked from BBC role over her HSBC role . Her likely departure from HSBC comes as the bank is planning for a wider clearout of non-executives who have been on the board for a long period of time .
Criticised over 'incompetent ' handling of bank 's tax evasion scandal . Announced her departure in a letter to shareholders . Follows calls by MP Margaret Hodge for Fairhead to quit BBC role .