Hungate was Reuters worldwide chief marketing officer between 2002 and 2006 before taking the Asia job.
HSBC has handed him responsibility for personal financial services as well as advertising, sponsorship and customer marketing. Regional heads of personal financial services will report to him and he will also become a member of the 10-strong global group management board.
Hungate will join next month after 14 years at Reuters, during which he worked in the UK, Hong Kong and the US.
He said: "I want to help HSBC grow by maintaining a relentless focus on the needs of its customers. In this role, with its combination of global leadership of the personal financial services business plus the marketing function, I want to ensure that our services always deliver on the powerful promise of the HSBC brand."
His predecessor Stringham spent six years at HSBC and was instrumental in establishing its positioning as "the world's local bank". He left in March and returned to Young & Rubicam as chief executive.