HSBC

Type: Public
On the web: http://www.hsbc.com
Employees: 307,000
Employee growth: 1.7%

HSBC would be a real alphabet soup if the company's name reflected its geographic diversity. One of the world's largest banking groups by assets, HSBC Holdings owns subsidiaries throughout Europe, Hong Kong and the rest of the Asia/Pacific region, the Middle East and Africa, and the Americas. All told, the company has some 7,500 locations in more than 80 countries. Its activities include consumer and commercial banking, credit cards, private banking, investment banking, and leasing. Its North American operations comprise HSBC USA, HSBC Bank Canada, HSBC Bank Bermuda, and Grupo Financiero HSBC in Mexico.

Key numbers for fiscal year ending December, 2010:
Sales: $98,918.0M
One year growth: (4.6%)
Net income: $13,159.0M
Income growth: 125.6%

Officers:
Chairman: Douglas J. Flint
CEO and Director: Stuart T. Gulliver
Group Managing Director and Group Chief Technology and Services Officer: Kenneth M. (Ken) Harvey

Competitors:
Barclays
Citigroup
Royal Bank of Scotland

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Incorporated: 1865 as Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Company, Ltd.
NAIC: 522110 Commercial Banking; 522120 Savings Institutions; 522292 Real Estate Credit; 522293 International Trade Financing; 523110 Investment Banking and Securities Dealing; 523920 Portfolio Management; 523930 Investment Advice; 523991 Trust, Fiduciary, and Custody Activities; 524110 Direct Life, Health, and Medical Insurance Carriers; 551111 Offices of Bank Holding Companies
SIC: 6021 National Commercial Banks; 6022 State Commercial Banks; 6029 Commercial Banks Nec; 6081 Foreign Banks - Branches & Agencies; 6035 Federal Savings Institutions; 6036 Savings Institutions Except Federal; 6162 Mortgage Bankers & Correspondents; 6082 Foreign Trade & International Banks; 6282 Investment Advice; 6091 Nondeposit Trust Facilities; 6733 Trusts Nec; 6712 Bank Holding Companies

A leading international banking group, HSBC Holdings plc (also referred to as the HSBC Group) operates in about 80 countries and offers comprehensive financial services encompassing not only commercial and merchant banking but also capital markets, consumer finance, securities, investments, and insurance. The HSBC Group is increasingly international in nature, despite the group still being centered around the bank from which it evolved (and from which it gained its acronymic name)--The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Ltd., the top bank in Hong Kong, known colloquially as HongkongBank.

HSBC has 9,500 offices spread out across five continents serving 120 million customers. While a growing force in many areas of the world, the group is especially notable for its longstanding presence in China, where it has been active since 1865. Its foreign subsidiaries are among the leading banks in Canada, France, Mexico, and other countries.

Founding of HongkongBank

The history of HSBC begins with the founding of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Company, Ltd. in 1865. In the early 1860s, Hong Kong's financial needs were served by European trading houses called "hongs." This system proved increasingly inadequate as the colony's bustling trade--primarily in tea, silk, and opium--burgeoned. By 1864 the first proper banks had been established, but as these were based in London or India and controlled from abroad, there was a growing feeling that a local bank was needed in the colony.

Dissatisfaction led to action when it was discovered that a group of Bombay financiers intended to set up a "Bank of China" in Hong Kong, and that this bank, chartered in London, was to offer only a small proportion of its shares to China coast businesses. Thomas Sutherland, the Hong Kong Superintendent of the Peninsula and Orient Steam Navigation Company, proposed the foundation of a new bank modeled on "sound Scottish banking principles." The proposal was promptly taken up by others of the Hong Kong business community; within days a provisional committee had established a banking cooperative capitalized at HKD 5 million. The move effectively preempted the proposed "Bank of China," whose representative, when he arrived later in Hong Kong, could find no market for his shares.

The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Company Ltd. opened on March 3, 1865, with a second branch inaugurated in Shanghai on April 3. A London office was opened later in the year. Members of the cooperative included American, German, Scandinavian, and Parsee Indian merchant houses, as well as representatives from the Bombay-based David Sassoon & Company and Hong Kong-based Dent & Company. The largest companies in Hong Kong, Jardine Matheson and the American firm Russell & Company, were not represented. The highly favorable response to the bank by foreign interests and compradores (native businessmen who acted as intermediaries with the Chinese community), however, led both to reconsider and join.

An international financial crisis in 1865-66 could have destroyed the bank. Instead, with financial support from its members, the bank took over the operations of failed competitors and hired their staff. Dent, meanwhile, the dominant Hong Kong member of the group, went bankrupt. Instead of hurting the cooperative, however, Dent's failure allowed broader representation by more diverse local interests.

Initially, the bank was established under the local Companies Ordinance as the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Company Ltd. Under the colonial law of the time, a bank had to incorporate either under a royal charter in compliance with the Colonial Banking Regulations or else according to British banking legislation. The bank's founders objected to these options, however, as they had particularly designed their enterprise as a local concern. Eventually a deal was struck with the Treasury whereby the bank (renamed The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation), under a unique ordinance, could retain Hong Kong headquarters while complying with the Colonial Banking Regulations.

Expanding Rapidly in the Late 19th Century

HongkongBank expanded rapidly throughout the 19th century. By 1900, it had branches in Japan, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, and the countries now known as Malaysia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam. In some Asian cities, HongkongBank was the first to usher in principles of modern Western banking and was indeed Thailand's very first bank, printing that country's first bank notes. In the United States and Europe, HongkongBank branches opened in San Francisco in 1875, New York in 1880, Lyons in 1881, and Hamburg in 1889. Except in New York, where a Canadian bank already operated, HongkongBank was the first foreign bank in each of these cities.

In Hong Kong, operations experienced a setback in the 1870s when the bank made some unwise investments in local Hong Kong industry--its reserves fell from HKD 1 million to HKD 100,000--but the company soon regained its footing under the leadership of a new chief manager, Thomas Jackson, who brought the bank back to a renewed emphasis on its field of expertise, trade finance. By the end of Jackson's reign, in 1902, HongkongBank's paid-up capital stood at HKD 10 million, and its published reserves at HKD 14.25 million, with additional estimated inner reserves of HKD 10 million.

The bank had, however, developed another lucrative role--that of banker to governments. By the 1880s, HongkongBank was operating in this capacity to the government of Hong Kong and had acquired the Treasury Chest (the British government's military and foreign service) business for China and Japan. In addition, the HongkongBank issued bank notes for Hong Kong and for the Straits Settlements (Singapore and Penang). Since these notes were not, at the time, legal tender, their popularity reflected the public's trust in HongkongBank. Through a powerful compradore in China, the bank established contacts with local officials in Tianjin and Beijing. The bank was later asked to issue a public loan on behalf of the Chinese government, and directed several more in ensuing years. While some of these loans financed China's war against Japan (1894-95) and the enforcement of peace during internal conflicts such as the Boxer Rebellion in 1900, the bulk was used for infrastructural projects such as railroads, coal mines, and shipping lines.

The bank was able to develop a very favorable rapport with the government and business interests in China mainly because it had a widespread presence in China and was incorporated in Hong Kong. By 1910 it was the favored intermediary of the multinational China Consortium, a result of the demonstrated effectiveness of the Bank's London manager, Sir Charles Addis.

World Wars Leading to Numerous Difficulties

World War I deeply divided the bank, still well represented by both Germans and Britons. The German members of its board, identified in the press as "hostile interests," eventually resigned, marking a more or less permanent end to German participation in the company. Still, the bank's Hamburg office remained open for the duration of the war.

The high price of silver after the war led the bank to make a rights issue to finance an expansion. Chief Manager A.G. Stephen presided over the construction of new facilities in Hankow, Bangkok, Manila, and especially Shanghai, where a new office was opened in 1923. An office opened in Vladivostok in 1918 but was forced to close in 1924, when Russian revolutionary forces completed their consolidation of control over Siberia.

The optimism of the early 1920s crashed after 1929 and continued to deteriorate through the 1930s, as Japanese interests moved into China, this time supported by Japanese guns. At first, the Japanese domination of China was limited to the rich hinterlands of Manchuria and consisted mainly of the commercial exploitation of resources. While the bank was permitted to establish offices in the Manchurian cities of Dairen, Mukden, and Harbin, its operations were limited only to foreign trade. Meanwhile, in the rest of China, the bank experienced new competition from an increasingly sophisticated Chinese banking community.

At the same time, the bank was losing business from the Philippine government and was discriminated against in Indonesia and Vietnam by Dutch and French colonial authorities. Despite generous lending and other support tactics for customers involved in rubber and other volatile commodities trades, bank profits continued to deteriorate. In many cases, competitors complained that the bank's extraordinary care "exceeded the limits of prudent lending." The bank was, however, founded on cooperative precepts, and continued to operate on that basis. Still, it was the shareholders who suffered; shareholders' funds fell from £9.1 million in 1918 to £8.6 million in 1940.

The number of Hong Kong dollars in circulation, 80 percent of which was printed by the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank, increased from HKD 50 million in 1927 to HKD 200 million in 1940. In effect, the bank backed HKD 160 million of the colony's currency--a dangerous exposure to the local economy, despite transferring the currency from a silver to sterling standard. The bank became involved in an even more unmanageable currency-stabilization effort in Shanghai, from which it eventually had to bow out, turning the scheme over to a government board.

The Japanese occupation of China, meanwhile, had become extremely brutal. Terror bombings, invasion, and a Japanese military riot in Nanking stifled commerce in China and isolated Hong Kong from its Chinese hinterland. Sensing imminent danger, the bank's chief manager, Vandeleur Grayburn, authorized the immediate transfer of silver reserves into sterling assets in London. On December 8, 1940, shortly after completing the transfer, Japanese troops stormed through Hong Kong's New Territories, and on December 25 won a surrender.

Bank employees in Manchuria, Japan, and Indochina were repatriated, and those in Burma and Singapore escaped to India. Employees in China, particularly Foochow, managed to reach Chungking, where the bank opened a formal office in 1943. The staff in Hong Kong was much less fortunate; most of them who were of European descent were imprisoned.

Under prearranged orders from Grayburn, the bank's London manager, Arthur Morse, assumed managerial control of the bank. Morse transferred the dollar-denominated assets located in Hong Kong to London, fearing that if the Japanese gained control of them, the assets would be frozen by the U.S. government. In light of the circumstances--the bank's board was interned in Hong Kong--Morse was named both chief manager and chairman. During the occupation, Japanese authorities forced the bank to issue additional currency in order to support the local economy. Grayburn and his designated successor, D.C. Edmonston, meanwhile, died in prison.

The war ended so suddenly in August 1945 that Hong Kong remained occupied when Japan surrendered. With colonial authorities back in control, the bank began the difficult and costly task of rebuilding. The amortization of bank notes issued under the occupation cost HKD 16 million, and new legislation only permitted the bank to collect debts from enemy interests in depreciated occupation currencies.

Postwar Recovery and Expansion

Despite its weakened condition, the bank played a major role in the reconstruction of Hong Kong, a task Morse began planning well before the war ended. All the company's branches were reopened--with the exception of Hamburg which, again, had remained open during the war--including those in Japan. By 1947, however, new problems arose in China, where the wartime alliance between Chiang Kai-shek's nationalists and Mao Tse-tung's communists had degenerated into a civil war. The immediate effects were severe inflation and increasing public disorder.

By October 1949 the communists had gained control of the mainland and the nationalists had fled to Taiwan. When an initial plea by the communists for reconstruction in cooperation with capitalists was suddenly reversed in 1950, industrialists fled China--especially Shanghai--for Hong Kong. The bank maintained offices in Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, and Shantou until 1955, when all but the Shanghai branch were closed. The Chinese, it seemed, preferred to do all their business through Hong Kong.

After the war, the British government practiced a "non-extractive" economic policy in Hong Kong, which, coupled with the entrepreneurial talent of industrialists transplanted from Shanghai and a labor force swelled by thousands of mainland refugees, created a powerful economic base. The bank financed hundreds of new ventures that helped the colony achieve unprecedented export-led growth. The growth of the textile industry in Hong Kong, however, led the bank to fear that it had become overexposed to that one industry.

Under Michael Turner, the HongkongBank adopted a new strategy of expansion using subsidiaries during the mid-1950s. Initially made necessary by American banking legislation, the subsidiary form of organization was first used in 1955 to establish a branch in California--one step toward reducing its dependence on Hong Kong.

Because Britain relinquished much of its empire after the war, British companies were forced to rationalize, by merger, acquisition, or nationalization. Indeed, many went bankrupt. Two such companies, the Mercantile Bank (formerly the Chartered Mercantile Bank of India, London, and China) and the British Bank of the Middle East (known as BBME, formerly the Imperial Bank of Persia), were purchased by the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank in 1959. The addition of the Mercantile Bank, with an extensive branch network in India, and the BBME, strongly represented in the Persian Gulf, made the HongkongBank the largest foreign bank in most of the countries from the Far East to southwest Asia.

Having reduced its exposure to Hong Kong, the bank moved next to diversify operationally. In 1960 it created Wayfoong, a consumer financing group whose name translates loosely as "focus of wealth."

A banking crisis in Hong Kong in 1964 led to a serious run on a competitor, the Hang Seng Bank. As the primary financial institution in Hong Kong and de facto central bank, the HongkongBank, while under no statutory duty to do so, acquired a majority interest in Hang Seng in 1965. Hang Seng subsequently recovered, and was the second largest bank incorporated in Hong Kong into the 1990s.

The HongkongBank's expansion through subsidiaries began in earnest with the creation in 1972 of Wardley Ltd., a merchant bank, and an insurance company called Carlingford. The bank also made numerous other investments--in Cathay Pacific Airways, the World-Wide shipping group, and the South China Morning Post. All these investments proved highly profitable in light of Hong Kong's rapid economic growth. In addition, the BBME benefited greatly from the newly prosperous oil-based economies in the Persian Gulf. In 1978, however, BBME branches in Saudi Arabia were taken over by the Saudi British Bank, a Saudi-controlled bank in which BBME retained management control, but only 40 percent ownership.

Under the leadership of Michael Sandberg, the HongkongBank reexamined its position in America as part of a wider strategy to gain greater representation in the major Western economies. The Hongkong and Shanghai Bank of California was sold and the bank purchased a 51 percent share of Marine Midland Bank, a Buffalo, New York-based bank holding company, in 1980. The HongkongBank bought the outstanding shares of Marine Midland in 1987. This acquisition inspired substantial debate in the U.S. Congress about whether banking laws should be strengthened to prevent foreign companies from gaining control over American banks.

The bank expanded in several ways during 1980. In China, the Shanghai branch was expanded and a representative office was established in Beijing. In addition, the BBME relocated from London to Hong Kong, and the bank gained control of Concord International, a leasing and finance group, and Anthony Gibbs, a British merchant bank. The following year, a Canadian subsidiary, the Hongkong Bank of Canada, was established in Vancouver. In 1986 the Hongkong Bank of Canada acquired the business of the Bank of British Columbia, bringing the number of branches across Canada to 61.

A bidding war over the Royal Bank of Scotland Group between the HongkongBank and Standard & Chartered (issuer of Hong Kong's other currency) was halted in 1981 by the British Monopolies & Mergers Commission, which ruled against both bids. Meanwhile, the bank succeeded in establishing a presence in Africa in 1981 through the acquisition of a controlling interest in Equator Bank by its merchant bank subsidiary Wardley; in Cyprus in 1982, also primarily through Wardley; and in Australia in 1985, when it established HongkongBank of Australia. Back in North America, HongkongBank entered into a strategic alliance with California-based Wells Fargo Bank in 1989. Also that year, HongkongBank was registered under the Hong Kong Companies Ordinance, at which time it adopted the name The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Ltd.

HongkongBank's expansionist policies were not always successful. Its acquisition of Marine Midland, said initially to have boosted the bank's assets from HKD 125.3 billion to HKD 243 billion, soon proved a debacle. Ill-advised forays into real estate and Latin American lending led to significant losses, prompting the parent company in 1991 to completely overhaul its subsidiary--at a purported cost of $1.8 billion. Other high-profile failures of the 1980s included the bank's financing of an Australian tycoon, Alan Bond, who went bankrupt.

Forming HSBC Holdings plc in 1991

In 1984 Great Britain and the People's Republic of China signed a historic agreement, slating for July 1, 1997, the return of Hong Kong to Chinese control, and providing added impetus to HongkongBank's overseas expansion. Keen to beef up its presence in Europe, the bank acquired James Capel, a leading U.K. securities firm, in 1986. Of still greater importance was the beginning in December 1987 of an association between HongkongBank and Midland Bank, one of four major British clearing banks. In December 1987 HongkongBank made the friendly acquisition of 14.9 percent of Midland's stock, agreeing not to increase its stake in Midland until the expiration of a three-year agreement in December 1990. Staking its future in Europe to that of Midland, HongkongBank transferred control of its branches on the European continent to Midland and in turn acquired Midland's branches in Canada and South Korea. In 1990 Hongkong Bank of Canada expanded still further through the purchase of Lloyds Bank Canada, becoming the seventh largest bank in Canada by the early 1990s.

HongkongBank and Midland entered into merger talks in 1990, but the talks broke off late in the year because of what were termed "financial difficulties." Nevertheless, HongkongBank held onto its stake in Midland following the expiration of the three-year agreement.

Like many Hong Kong-based companies facing the uncertainties of 1997, HongkongBank made some major organizational changes well before the handover. In 1991 it created a new holding company, HSBC Holdings plc, making HongkongBank a subsidiary of the U.K.-incorporated but Hong Kong-based HSBC Holdings. HSBC stock was set up on both the London and Hong Kong markets, showing the importance HongkongBank placed on Europe (and London) for its future. For HongkongBank, the establishment of a new holding company relieved it of management responsibility for the group's more than 500 subsidiaries in 50 countries. The bank thus could focus primarily on the Asia-Pacific region it knew so well.

HSBC completed the long-anticipated takeover of Midland in 1992, gaining full control of what became its flagship in Europe. HSBC made an initial friendly offer in March for Midland. The following month Lloyds stepped in with a larger, hostile offer. HSBC soon put an end to the takeover battle with a 480p per share offer in June, prompting Lloyds to bow out. HSBC ended up paying £3.9 billion ($7.2 billion) to acquire Midland. As a condition of the acquisition, HSBC was required by the regulatory Bank of England to move its main office to London, which it did in January 1993. The headquarters of HongkongBank remained in Hong Kong.

The acquisition of Midland was a coup, providing HSBC with the significant presence in Europe it had previously lacked. Variously described as a merger and a takeover, the amalgamation virtually doubled HSBC's assets (from £86 billion to £170 billion) and workforce. The venerable Midland, the U.K.'s third largest bank, was not performing to standard at that time, being the least profitable of Britain's "big four" banks. Nevertheless, the financial health and the international experience of the parent company began attracting larger corporate customers to Midland. In addition, many individuals were subsequently won over by the telephone banking service, First Direct, introduced by Midland in 1989 and strongly backed by HSBC. HSBC's lead in technology--used, for example, to automate credit decisions and limit staff expenditure--also played a part in Midland's recovery.

Although under the HSBC umbrella structure individual subsidiaries acted, in large part, autonomously, the company also moved to coordinate some operations. Soon after the takeover of Midland, HSBC integrated its treasury operations in London, New York, and Tokyo and established common technological standards. Also in 1992 HSBC opened a trading room in London for the dealing business of Midland, James Capel, and HSBC Greenwell. This became the largest treasury trading operation in Europe. That year also saw the establishment of the HSBC Investment Banking Group, which coordinated the merchant banking, securities, and asset management business (HSBC Asset Management) of the entire HSBC Group.

HongkongBank, which had long acted as a quasi-central bank, was relieved of some of these unofficial duties in 1992, when the Hong Kong Monetary Authority was established. The following year HongkongBank divested its holding in Cathay Pacific Airways. In 1994 it became the first foreign bank to incorporate locally in Malaysia through the establishment of Hongkong Bank Malaysia Berhad. In the mid-1990s the bank greatly expanded its personal banking business through the opening or upgrading of personal banking units in Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Mauritius, New Zealand, the Philippines, Saipan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, and Thailand. The bank also expanded its presence in China during this period, maintaining good relations with the Chinese government--which was extremely important as 1997 approached.

HSBC Holdings continued to expand in the mid-1990s under the leadership of Chief Executive John Bond. In 1995 HSBC and Wells Fargo established Wells Fargo HSBC Trade Bank in California, a joint venture (40 percent owned by HSBC) providing trade finance and international banking services in the United States. Marine Midland was bolstered in 1996 with the acquisition of Rochester, New York-based First Federal Savings and Loan Association for $620 million. Latin America was the subject of several 1997 transactions: the purchase of a 10 percent stake in Banco del Sur del Peru; the founding of a new subsidiary in Brazil, Banco HSBC Bamerindus S.A., which took over assets of Banco Bamerindus do Brasil; the increase in investment in Banco Santiago in Chile to 6.99 percent; the acquisition of Roberts S.A. de Inversiones of Argentina (renamed HSBC Roberts S.A. de Inversiones); and the purchase of a 19.9 percent stake in Grupo Financiero Serfin of Mexico.

Although HSBC seemed to suffer no ill effects from the handover of Hong Kong to Chinese control on July 1, 1997, it did feel the effects of the Asian economic crisis of the late 1990s. The group was particularly hard hit in troubled Indonesia, where it had to set aside about $2.5 billion in provisions for bad loans. Nevertheless, its earlier moves into Europe and the Americas paid off handsomely, as higher profits in these regions helped offset weaker results in Asia. Meantime, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, in an attempt to thwart currency speculators, made a significant intervention in the Hong Kong Stock Market in August 1998, purchasing large stakes in several prominent companies. The government of Hong Kong thereby became HSBC Holdings' single largest shareholder, with an 8.9 percent stake. In October 1998 HSBC announced that it had signed a 999-year lease for a new 1.1 million-square-foot headquarters building at Canary Wharf in London, scheduled for completion by early 2002. The following month HSBC said that it would unify the HSBC Group under the HSBC name and logo, thereby establishing a more global corporate identity. Among the units whose marketing names would change to HSBC were Banco HSBC Bamerindus, the British Bank of the Middle East, Hongkong Bank Malaysia, Hongkong Bank of Australia, Hongkong Bank of Canada, HSBC Banco Roberts, Marine Midland, Midland Bank, HSBC Equator Bank, HSBC Investment Banking, and even the flagship HongkongBank itself. Eventually the legal names of many HSBC Group subsidiaries would also be changed. In a press release, Bond said: "We want the HSBC brand to be known in every country and in every sector in which we operate as synonymous with integrity, trust, and excellent customer service. I am confident that a unified brand and the strong recognition it will bring for HSBC's exceptional strengths is an important step forward as we work to maximise shareholder value." The implementation of this significant change was sure to require much of HSBC's attention at the onset of the 21st century.

HSBC shares began trading on the New York Stock Exchange in 1999. Later in the year, the group bought Republic New York Corporation and Safra Republic Holdings S.A. Acquisitions also were giving HSBC a considerable presence in Europe. The company bought Crédit Commercial de France (renamed CCF S.A. and ultimately HSBC France) for $11 billion in 2000. CCF had been formed in 1894 and operated 650 branch offices. In July 2000, when the deal closed, HSBC shares began trading on the Paris Stock Exchange.

HSBC bought out Australia's NRMA Building Society Ltd., Turkey's Demirbank, and Taiwan's China Securities Investment Trust Corporation in 2001. It also was picking up minority shares in others such as the Bank of Shanghai and Ping An Insurance Company, China's second largest insurance provider. Ping An underwent an initial public offering in 2004, diluting HSBC's stake to about 10 percent, but in August 2005 raised its holding to 19.9 percent at a cost of $1 billion.

"The World's Local Bank" in 2002

The company spent about $2 billion in 2002 to buy and recapitalize Mexico's Grupo Financiero Bital. HSBC gained 5.5 million new customers at 1,400 new branches. During the year, HSBC began billing itself as "The world's local bank." HSBC opened its impressive new headquarters at London's Canary Wharf in April 2003. About 8,000 employees were based there.

Part of HSBC's sensitivity to local cultures included support of environmental causes such as the World Wildlife Fund. In December 2004, the company became the first bank to set the goal of becoming "carbon neutral," a status it achieved within a year.

In 2003, the group made a major acquisition in the United States, taking over Household International Inc., which had more than 1,300 branches and 53 million consumer finance and credit card customers. In Brazil, HSBC also bought a leading consumer finance company, Losango Promotora de Vendas Limitada, as well as Banco Lloyds TSB S.A.-Banco Múltiplo. Among other 2003 deals was the purchase of Keppel Insurance Pte Ltd., which supplied insurance in Singapore.

The mergers and acquisitions activity continued in 2004, adding the Bank of Bermuda Ltd. and Marks and Spencer's Retail Financial Services Holdings Ltd. (d/b/a M&S Money). By this time, most of the group's existing subsidiaries had changed their names to include the HSBC initials. Household International, renamed HSBC Finance Corporation, and others were combined into the HSBC North America unit.

China was the hub of much of the group's investment activity in 2005. While raising its holding in Ping An Insurance, it also bought a 19.9 percent stake in Bank of Communications Ltd. HSBC was also opening new bank branches. In March 2005, its Beijing branch began providing local currency services, a first for a foreign bank. Elsewhere in the world, U.S. credit card issuer Metris Companies Inc. was acquired by HSBC Finance for $1.6 billion in December 2005.

The group's chairman since 1988, Sir John Bond, was retiring in May 2006. He was leaving a much larger company than the one he had joined. HSBC posted pretax profits of $21 billion in 2005, up 11 percent from the previous year. Total assets were $1.5 trillion (£873 billion; HKD 11.65 trillion). The group employed a virtual army of 265,285 employees worldwide, serving nearly 100 million customers.

Principal Subsidiaries

The Bank of Bermuda Ltd.; Hang Seng Bank Ltd. (Hong Kong; 62.14%); HFC Bank Ltd.; HSBC Asset Finance (UK) Ltd.; The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Ltd. (Hong Kong); HSBC Bank A.S. (Turkey); HSBC Bank Argentina S.A. (99.99%); HSBC Bank Australia Ltd.; HSBC Bank Brasil S.A. - Banco Múltiplo; HSBC Bank Canada; HSBC Bank Egypt S.A.E. (94.53%); HSBC Bank Malaysia Berhad; HSBC Bank Malta plc (70.03%); HSBC Bank Middle East Ltd. (Jersey); HSBC Bank plc; HSBC Bank USA, N.A.; HSBC La Buenos Aires Seguros S.A. (Argentina; 99.53%); HSBC Finance Corporation (United States); HSBC France (formerly CCF S.A.) (99.99%); HSBC Guyerzeller Bank AG (Switzerland); HSBC Insurance (Asia) Ltd. (Hong Kong); HSBC Insurance Brokers Ltd.; HSBC Investments (Taiwan) Ltd. (formerly HSBC Asset Management (Taiwan) Ltd.); HSBC Investments (UK) Ltd. (formerly HSBC Asset Management (Europe) Ltd.); HSBC Life (International) Ltd. (Bermuda); HSBC Life (UK) Ltd.; HSBC Private Bank (Guernsey) Ltd. (Guernsey); HSBC Mexico S.A. (99.74%); HSBC Private Bank (Suisse) S.A.; HSBC Private Bank (UK) Ltd.; HSBC Securities (USA) Inc.; HSBC Seguros (Brasil) S.A. (97.92%); HSBC Technology & Services (USA) Inc.; HSBC Trinkaus & Burkhardt KGaA (Germany; 77.89%); Maxima S.A. AFJP (Argentina; 59.99%).

Principal Divisions

Europe; Hong Kong; Rest of Asia-Pacific, including the Middle East and Africa; North America; South America.

Principal Operating Units

Grupo Financiero HSBC, S.A. de C.V. (99.8%); HSBC Bank plc; HSBC France (Netherlands); HSBC Insurance Holdings Ltd.; HSBC Investment Bank Holdings plc; HSBC Latin America Holdings (UK) Ltd.; HSBC North America Holdings Inc.

Principal Competitors

Lloyds TSB Group plc; Barclays plc.

Further Reading

Blanden, Michael, "After the Dust of Battle," Banker, August 1992, p. 36.

Chambers, Gillian, Hang Seng: The Evergrowing Bank, Hong Kong: Hang Seng Bank, 1991.

Collis, Maurice, Wayfoong: The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, London: Faber and Faber, 1965.

"An Empire at Risk," Economist, September 7, 1996, pp. 71-72.

Engardio, Pete, "Global Banker," Business Week, May 24, 1993, pp. 42-46.

Engardio, Pete, and Paula Dwyer, "Hongkong & Shanghai vs. the World," Business Week, August 7, 1995, pp. 59-60.

"Far Eastern Promise and the Global Gamble," Investors' Chronicle, January 29, 1993.

Graham, George, "HSBC Reaps Fruits of Growth Strategy," Financial Times, February 24, 1998, p. 26.

"Greater Than the Sum of His Parts," Financial Times, March 1, 1994.

Green, William, "Bland--And Proud of It," Forbes, July 7, 1997, pp. 94-96, 98-99.

Holmes, A. R., and Edwin Green, Midland: 150 Years of Banking Business, London: Batsford, 1986.

"HongkongBank's Global Gamble," Economist, March 21, 1992, pp. 107-08.

"Hong Kong/China Boom Spawns a Global Banking Colossus," QL Stockmarket Letter, July 1, 1993.

"HSBC Maps Strategy for US Market," South China Morning Post, January 14, 1993.

Irvine, Steve, "The Culture That Powers Hongkong Bank," Euromoney, February 1997, pp. 44+.

Jones, Geoffrey, The History of the British Bank of the Middle East, 2 vols., Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986-87.

King, Frank H. H., The History of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, 4 vols., Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987-91.

------, The Hongkong Bank in the Period of Development and Nationalism, 1941-1984: From Regional Bank to Multinational Group, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1991.

King, Frank H. H., ed., Eastern Banking: Essays in the History of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, London: Athlone Press, 1983.

King, Frank H. H., Catherine E. King, and David J. S. King, The Hongkong Bank Between the Wars and the Bank Interned, 1919-1945: Return from Grandeur, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1988.

------, The Hongkong Bank in Late Imperial China, 1864-1902: On an Even Keel, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1987.

King, Frank H. H., David J. S. King, and Catherine E. King, The Hongkong Bank in the Period of Imperialism and War, 1895-1918: Wayfoong, the Focus of Wealth, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1988.

Leung, James, "HongkongBank Extends Personal Touch," Asian Business, February 1997, p. 22+.

"Loan Masters," Economist, August 28, 1993, pp. 65-66.

Lucas, Louise, "Hongkong Bank Chief to Quit in HSBC Rejig," Financial Times, October 16, 1998, p. 25.

------, "Profits Growth Limited at HongkongBank," Financial Times, August 5, 1997, p. 20.

Meyer, Richard, "Lessons from Buffalo," Financial World, July 23, 1991, pp. 37-39.

Morris, Kathleen, "Back to the Future," Financial World, June 20, 1995, pp. 42-44.

Muirhead, Stuart, Crisis Banking in the East: The History of the Chartered Mercantile Bank of India, London and China, 1853-93, Aldershot, England: Scolar Press, 1996.

Sender, Henny, and John McBeth, "Living Dangerously: Hongkong Bank Is Mired in an Indonesian Nightmare," Far Eastern Economic Review, February 29, 1996, pp. 52-53.

Silverman, Gary, "Look British, Think Chinese: Hongkong Bank Stays No. 1," Far Eastern Economic Review, December 28, 1995, pp. 64-65.

Tanzer, Andrew, "The Bank," Forbes, December 11, 1989, pp. 43-44.

Vander Weyer, Martin, "Hongkong Officer Corps Builds a Global Empire," Euromoney, April, 1993, pp. 52-56.

"Waiting for the Griffin to Pull Its Weight," Financial Times, March 16, 1993.

"You Organise Your Bank Around Your Customers," Daily Telegraph, March 22, 1993.

"Your Future Is Our Future," Hong Kong: The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Ltd., 1997.

— Robin DuBlanc; Updated by David E. Salamie, Frederick C. Ingram

A definition for medical records to denote ‘hit by car’.

HSBC Holdings plc

Type	Holding company[1][2] (Public limited company)
Traded as	LSE: HSBA NYSE: HBC Euronext: HSB SEHK: 005 BSX: 1077223879
Industry	Banking, Financial services
Founded	1991[3] (HSBC Holdings plc) 1865[4] (The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited)
Founder(s)	Sir Thomas Sutherland
Headquarters	8 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London, United Kingdom[5]
Number of locations	7,500 offices in 87 countries & territories[6]
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Douglas Flint (Chairman) Stuart Gulliver (Chief Executive)
Products	Credit cards, Consumer banking, corporate banking, finance and insurance, investment banking, mortgage loans, private banking, wealth management
Revenue	US$ 98.918 billion (2010)[7]
Operating income	US$ 19.037 billion (2010)[7]
Profit	US$ 13.159 billion (2010)[7]
Total assets	US$ 2.454 trillion (2010)[7]
Total equity	US$ 147.667 billion (2010)[7]
Employees	295,995 (2011)[7]
Subsidiaries	HSBC Bank plc The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation HSBC GLT India HSBC Bank USA HSBC Bank Middle East HSBC Mexico HSBC Bank Brazil HSBC Finance
Website	www.hsbc.com

HSBC Holdings plc (commonly known as HSBC) is a British multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom.^[5] As of 2011^[update] it was the world's second-largest banking and financial services group and second-largest public company according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine.^[8]

HSBC is a universal bank and is organised within four business groups: Commercial Banking; Global Banking and Markets (investment banking); Personal Financial Services (retail banking and consumer finance); and Global Private Banking.^[9] It has around 7,500 offices in 87 countries and territories across Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and South America and around 100 million customers.^[6][10] As of 30 June 2010, it had total assets of $2.418 trillion, of which roughly half were in Europe, a quarter in the Americas and a quarter in Asia.^[7]

HSBC Holdings plc was founded in London in 1991 by The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation to act as a new group holding company^[1][2] and to enable the acquisition of UK-based Midland Bank.^[3] The origins of the bank lie in Hong Kong and Shanghai, where branches were first opened in 1865.^[4] Today, HSBC remains the largest bank in Hong Kong, and recent expansion in mainland China, where it is now the largest international bank, has returned it to that part of its roots.^[10][11]

HSBC has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. As of December 2011 it had a market capitalisation of £87.4 billion, the third-largest of any company listed on the London Stock Exchange.^[12] It has secondary listings on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (where it is a constituent of the Hang Seng Index), the New York Stock Exchange, Euronext Paris and the Bermuda Stock Exchange.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Development of the bank 1.2 Subprime crisis 1.3 2010 to present 2 Operations 2.1 Corporate profile 2.2 Head office 2.3 Latin America 2.4 Asia Pacific 2.5 Middle East and North Africa 2.6 North America 2.7 Europe 3 Customer groups 3.1 Retail Banking & Wealth Management 3.2 Commercial Banking 3.3 Global Banking & Markets 3.4 Private Banking 4 Global product lines and programmes 4.1 Group Service Centres 4.2 HSBC Private Bank 4.3 HSBC Premier 4.4 HSBC Advance 4.5 HSBC Bank International 4.6 HSBCnet 4.7 HSBC Direct 5 Brand and advertising 5.1 Logo 5.2 Sponsorship 6 See also 7 Notes 8 External links

History

For the history of HSBC prior to the founding of HSBC Holdings in 1991, see The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation.

Development of the bank

The HSBC Building in Shanghai, the headquarters of the Shanghai branch of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation from 1923 to 1955

The HSBC Main Building in Hong Kong, which was designed by Norman Foster and completed in 1985.

HSBC (abbreviation origin: the "Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation") was founded in the former British colony of Hong Kong (in 3rd March 1865) and Shanghai (one month later) by Scotsman Sir Thomas Sutherland (1834–1922). HSBC Holdings plc established in 1990 became the parent company to The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation in preparation for its purchase of Midland Bank in the United Kingdom and restructuring of ownership domicile for the impending transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong to China. HSBC Holdings acquisition of Midland Bank gave HSBC Group a substantial market presence in the United Kingdom which was completed in 1992. As part of the takeover conditions for the purchase of Midland Bank, HSBC Holdings plc was required to relocate its world headquarters from Hong Kong to London in 1993.

Major acquisitions in South America started with the purchase of the Banco Bamerindus of Brazil for $1bn in March 1997^[13] and the acquisition of Roberts SA de Inversiones of Argentina for $600m in May 1997.^[14]

In 1980, HSBC acquired a 51% shareholding in Marine Midland Bank, which it extended to full ownership in 1987. In May 1999, HSBC continued its US acquisitions with the purchase of Republic National Bank of New York for $10.3bn.^[15]

Expansion into Continental Europe took place in April 2000 with the acquisition of Crédit Commercial de France, a large French bank for £6.6bn.^[16]

In July 2001 HSBC bought Demirbank, an insolvent Turkish bank.^[17] In July 2002, Arthur Andersen announced that HSBC USA, Inc., through a new subsidiary, Wealth and Tax Advisory Services USA Inc. (WTAS), would purchase a portion of Andersen's tax practice. The new HSBC Private Client Services Group would serve the wealth and tax advisory needs of high net worth individuals. Then in August 2002 HSBC acquired Grupo Financiero Bital, SA de CV, Mexico's third largest retail bank for $1.1bn.^[18]

The new headquarters of HSBC Holdings at 8 Canada Square, London officially opened in April 2003.^[19]

Then in September 2003 HSBC bought Polski Kredyt Bank SA of Poland for $7.8m.^[20]

In June 2004 HSBC expanded into China buying 19.9% of the Bank of Communications of Shanghai.^[21]

In the United Kingdom HSBC acquired Marks & Spencer Retail Financial Services Holdings Ltd for £763m in December 2004.^[22]

Acquisitions in 2005 included Metris Inc, a US credit card issuer for $1.6bn in August^[23] and 70.1% of Dar Es Salaam Investment Bank of Iraq in October.^[24]

In April 2006 HSBC bought the 90 branches in Argentina of Banca Nazionale del Lavoro for $155m.^[25]

In December 2007 HSBC acquired The Chinese Bank in Taiwan.^[26]

In May 2008 HSBC acquired IL&FS Investment, an Indian retail broking firm.^[27]

Subprime crisis

In November 2002 HSBC expanded further in the United States. Under the chairmanship of Sir John Bond, it spent £9 billion (US$15.5 billion) to acquire Household Finance Corporation (HFC), a US credit card issuer and subprime lender.^[28] In a 2003 cover story, The Banker noted "when banking historians look back, they may conclude that [it] was the deal of the first decade of the 21st century".^[29] Under the new name of HSBC Finance, the division was the second largest subprime lender in the US.^[30]

In March 2009, HSBC announced that it would shut down the branch network of its HSBC Finance arm in the U.S., leading to nearly 6,000 job losses and leaving only the credit card business to continue operating.^[31][32]

Chairman Stephen Green stated, "HSBC has a reputation for telling it as it is. With the benefit of hindsight, this is an acquisition we wish we had not undertaken.";^[33] analyst Colin Morton said, "the takeover was an absolute disaster".^[32][34]

Although it was at the centre of the subprime storm, the wider group has weathered the financial crisis of 2007–2010 better than other global banks. According to Bloomberg, "HSBC is one of world’s strongest banks by some measures."^[35] When HM Treasury required all UK banks to increase their capital in October 2007, the group transferred £750 million to London within hours, and announced that it had just lent £4 billion to other UK banks.^[36] In March 2009, it announced that it had made US$9.3bn of profit in 2008 and announced a £12.5bn (US$17.7bn; HK$138bn) rights issue to enable it to buy other banks that were struggling to survive.^[37] However, uncertainty over the rights' issue's implications for institutional investors caused volatility in the Hong Kong stock market: on 9 March 2009 HSBC's share price fell 24.14%, with 12 million shares sold in the last few seconds of trading.^[38]

2010 to present

8 Canada Square, the world headquarters of HSBC in Canary Wharf, London.

On 11 May 2011 the new chief executive Stuart Gulliver announced that HSBCs would refocus its business strategy and that a large-scale retrenchment of operations, particularly in respect of the retail sector, was planned. HSBC would no longer seek to be 'the world's local bank', as costs associated with this were spiralling and US$3.5bn needed to be saved by 2013, with the aim of bringing overheads down from 55% of revenues to 48%. Gulliver stated that HSBC would focus on the business of wealth management in dynamic and developing markets, principally in the UK and far east. Immediate judgement was passed on this plan, with the share price shrinking 1.5%. Gulliver also added that a decision on whether or not to relocate its head office out of the UK tax domain would be made at the end of the year. In 2010, then-chairman Stephen Green planned to depart HSBC to accept a government appointment in the Trade Ministry. Group Chief Executive Michael Geoghegan was expected to become the next chairman. However, while many current and former senior employees supported the tradition of promoting the chief executive to chairman, many shareholders instead pushed for an external candidate. Geoghegan's detractors noted that while he was effective at getting things done, they argued that his blunt style was unsuited to leading the board and representing HSBC with heads of government, and his appointment as chairman would also flout UK governance guidance that barred chief executives becoming chairman. Geoghegan had reportedly threatened to quit if he was passed over in favour of former Goldman Sachs President John Thornton.^[39][40] HSBC's board of directors had reportedly been split over the succession planning, and investors were alarmed that this row would damage the company.^[41]

On 23 September 2010, Geoghegan announced he would step down as chief executive of HSBC. ^[42] He was succeeded as chief executive of HSBC by Stuart Gulliver, while Green was succeeded as Chairman by Douglas Flint; Flint was serving as HSBC's finance director (chief financial officer). August 2011: Further to CEO Stuart Gulliver's plan to cut $3.5 billion in costs over the next 2 years, HSBC announced that it will cut 25,000 jobs and exit from 20 countries by 2013 in addition to 5,000 job- cuts announced earlier in the year. The consumer banking division of HSBC will focus on the UK, Hong Kong, high-growth markets such as Mexico, Singapore, Turkey and Brazil, and smaller countries where it has a leading market share.^[43][44] According to Reuters, Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver told the media, "There will be further job cuts. There will be something like 25,000 roles eliminated between now and the end of 2013."^[45][46]

August 1, 2011 "to align our U.S. business with our global network and meet the local and international needs of domestic and overseas clients", HSBC Holding Plc, agreed to sell 195 branches in New York and Connecticut for around $1 billion to First Niagara Financial Group Inc. HSBC will also close 13 branches in Connecticut and New Jersey in 2012. The rest of HSBC's U.S. network will only be about half from a total 470 branches before divestments.^[47] On August 9, 2011, Capital One Financial Corp. agreed to acquire HSBC's U.S. credit card business for $2.6 billion,^[48] netting HSBC Holdings an estimated after-tax profit of $2.4 billion.^[49] In September it was announced that HSBC seeks to sell its general insurance business for around $1 billion. This is a part of Chief Executive Officer Stuart Gulliver's plan to divest some assets.

Operations

Corporate profile

HSBC Tower, the headquarters of HSBC Mexico in Mexico City.

As of 2 April 2008, according to Forbes magazine, HSBC was the fourth largest bank in the world in terms of assets ($2,348.98 billion), the second largest in terms of sales ($146.50 billion) and the largest in terms of market value ($180.81 billion). It was also the most profitable bank in the world with $19.13 billion in net income in 2007 (compared to Citigroup's $3.62 billion and Bank of America's $14.98 billion in the same period).^[50] Since the end of 2005, HSBC has been rated the largest banking group in the world by Tier 1 capital.^[51] In February 2008, HSBC was named the world's most valuable banking brand by The Banker magazine.^[52][53]

HSBC is known in banking circles for its conservative and risk-averse approach to business – a company tradition going back to the 19th century.^[54] In its technical management, however, HSBC has recently suffered a series of headline-making incidents in which some customer data were allegedly leaked or simply went missing. Although the consequences turned out to be small, the embarrassing effect on the group's image did not go unnoticed.^[55]

The headquarters of HSBC Brazil in Curitiba.

The HSBC Group has a significant presence in each of the world's major financial markets, with the Americas, Asia Pacific and Europe each representing around one third of the business. With around 8,000 offices in 87 countries & territories, 210,000 shareholders, 300,000 staff and 128 million customers worldwide, HSBC arguably has the most international presence among the world's multinational banking giants.^[6] HSBC is the largest bank in Hong Kong and prints most of Hong Kong's local currency in its own name.

The HSBC Group operates as a number of local banks around the world, which explains its advertising tagline "The World's Local Bank." In response to ongoing discussions about the survival strategies for banks, and the suggestion of "Living Wills" HSBC explains its structure as "separately incorporated and capitalised" the structure is based on a lead bank in each region, which has responsibility for the group's operations in that area, as listed below.^[56] For details of other group companies see Category:HSBC.

HSBC is currently audited by one of the Big Four auditors, KPMG. The HSBC and KPMG headquarters are adjacent to one another, with KPMG occupying 15 Canada Square.^[57] HSBC Main Building, Hong Kong where the CEO office is, also adjacent to KPMG office located in Prince's Building.

Head office

The head office is in 8 Canada Square in Canary Wharf, London.^[58] On Friday 25 September 2009 the company stated that while its head office would remain in London and the main regulator would continue to be the Financial Services Authority, the CEO would move from London to Hong Kong beginning on February 2010.^[59]

Latin America

 · HSBC Mexico SA
 · HSBC Bank Brazil SA
 · HSBC Bank Argentina SA
 · HSBC Bank Colombia SA

Asia Pacific

 · The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Ltd
 · Hang Seng Bank Ltd
 · HSBC Bank (China) Company Ltd
 · HSBC Bank Malaysia Berhad
 · HSBC Bank Australia Limited

Middle East and North Africa

 · HSBC Bank Middle East Ltd
 · HSBC Bank Egypt SAE
 · The Saudi British Bank

North America

 · HSBC Bank USA Inc
 · HSBC Finance Corporation
 · HSBC Bank Canada

Europe

 · HSBC Bank plc
 · HSBC France
 · HSBC Trinkaus und Burkhardt AG
 · HSBC Bank Malta plc
 · HSBC Private Bank (UK) Ltd
 · HSBC Bank Armenia

Customer groups

A map showing the countries of the world in which HSBC currently has operations.

HSBC splits its business into four distinct groups:

Retail Banking & Wealth Management

HSBC provides more than 100 million customers worldwide with a full range of personal financial services, including current and savings accounts, mortgage loans, car financing, insurance, credit cards, loans, pensions and investments.

Retail Banking and Wealth Management was previously referred to as Personal Financial Services. This rename was announced during HSBC's 2011 Investor Day.^[60]

Commercial Banking

HSBC provides financial services to small, medium-sized and middle-market enterprises. The group has more than 3 million of such customers, including sole proprietors, partnerships, clubs and associations, incorporated businesses and publicly quoted companies.

Global Banking & Markets

Global Banking and Markets is the investment banking arm of HSBC. It provides investment banking and financing solutions for corporate and institutional clients, including corporate banking, investment banking, trade services, payments and cash management, and leveraged acquisition finance. It provides services in credit and rates, foreign exchange, money markets and securities services, in addition to asset management services.

Global Banking and Markets has offices in more than 60 countries and territories worldwide, and describes itself as "emerging markets-led and financing-focused".^[61]

Global Banking and Markets is currently being led by former fixed-income trader Samir Assaf, who was promoted from global head of markets on 10 December 2010.^[62]

Private Banking

Main article: HSBC Private Bank

The main London office of HSBC Private Bank in St James's.

HSBC Private Bank is the marketing name for the private banking business conducted by the principal private banking subsidiaries of the HSBC Group worldwide. HSBC Private Bank, together with the private banking activities of HSBC Trinkaus, known collectively as Group Private Banking, provides services to high net worth individuals and their families through 93 locations in some 42 countries and territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa. As of December 2007, profits before tax were US$1,511 million and combined client assets under management were US$494 billion.

In September 2008, HSBC announced that it would combine its two Swiss private banks under one brand name in 2009, with HSBC Guyerzeller and HSBC Private Bank to be merged into one legal entity, under the newly appointed CEO of HSBC Private Bank, Alexandre Zeller.^[63]

Global product lines and programmes

Group Service Centres

The HSBC Global Technology Centre in Pune, India, which develops software for the HSBC group.^[64]

As a cost-saving measure HSBC is offshoring processing work to lower cost economies in order to reduce the cost of providing services in developed countries. These locations take on work such as data processing and customer service, but also internal software engineering at Pune (India), Hyderabad (India), Vishakhapatnam (India), Kolkata (India), Guangzhou (China), Curitiba (Brazil) and Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia).

Chief Operating Officer Alan Jebson said in March 2005 that he would be very surprised if fewer than 25,000 people were working in the centres over the next three years: “I don’t have a precise target but I would be surprised if we had less than 15 (global service centres) in three years’ time.” He went on to say that each centre cost the bank from $20m to $30m to set up, but that for every job moved the bank saves about $20,000 (£10,400).^[65]

Trade unions, particularly in the US and UK, blame these centres for job losses in developed countries, and also for the effective imposition of wage caps on their members.^[65]

Currently, HSBC operates centres out of eight countries, including Brazil (Curitiba), The Czech Republic (Ostrava), India (Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Visakhapatnam, Mumbai, Gurgaon and Pune), China (Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen), Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur), Poland (Krakow), Sri Lanka (Rajagiriya) and Philippines (Manila). The Malta trial for a UK high value call centre has resulted in a growing operation that country. An option under consideration is reported to be a processing centre in Vietnam to access the French skills of the population and therefore cut costs in the bank’s French operations.

On 27 June 2006, HSBC reported that a "small number" of customers had suffered from fraud totalling £233,000 after an employee at the Bangalore call centre supplied confidential customer information to fraudsters.^[66]

HSBC Private Bank

HSBC Private Bank^[67] is the group's private banking operation, providing private banking and trustee services to wealthy individuals and their families worldwide. The Private Bank has in excess of 60 offices worldwide, with the major centres being Miami, New York, London, Geneva and Hong Kong.

An HSBC Premier Centre in Tokyo, Japan.

HSBC Premier

HSBC Premier^[68] is the group's premium financial services product. The exact benefits and qualification criteria vary depending on country, but typically require deposits and investments of at least $100,000, £50,000, or €100,000. Alternatively those who have an individual annual income of at least £100,000 paid into their HSBC Premier Bank Account and are a customer of the bank's Independent Financial Advisory Service. Customers have a dedicated Premier Relationship Manager, global 24 hour access to call centres, free banking services and preferential rates. A HSBC Premier customer receives the HSBC Premier services in all countries that offer HSBC Premier, without having to meet that country's qualifying criteria.

HSBC Advance

HSBC Advance^[69] is the group's product aimed at working professionals. The exact benefits and qualifications vary depending on country, but typically require a transfer of Salary of USD 1,500 or more every month or Maintain USD 25,000 of deposits in a Savings/Current Account or investments. Advantages may vary depending on country, such as day-to-day banking services including but not limited to a Platinum Credit Card, Advance ATM Card, Current Account and Savings Account. Protection plans and Financial Planning Services. A HSBC Advance customer enables the customer to open accounts in another country and transfer their credit history.

HSBC Bank International

HSBC Bank International^[70] is the offshore banking arm of the HSBC Group, focusing on providing offshore solutions and cross border services to expatriates and migrants. It provides a full range of multi-currency personal banking services to a range of customer segments, including a full internet banking and telephone banking service. Sometimes referred to as "HSBC Offshore", the business also offers independent financial planning, and has representative offices all over the world, often working alongside local HSBC operations in those regions.

HSBC Bank International originated from the business started by Midland Bank and is based in the Channel Islands with further operations on the Isle of Man. Its operations in the Channel Islands are centred around its registered headquarters on the seafront in St Helier, Jersey. Named 'HSBC House', the building comprises departments such as Premier, Global Funds & Investments, e-Business and a 24 hour 'Direct Banking Centre'.

HSBCnet

HSBCnet^[71] is a global service that caters to local business needs by offering specialised functionality for different regions worldwide.

The system provides access to transaction banking functionality – ranging from payments and cash management to trade services features – as well as to research and analytical content from HSBC. It also includes foreign exchange and money markets trading functionality.

The system is used widely by HSBC's high-end corporate and institutional clients served variously by the bank's global banking and markets, commercial banking and global transaction banking divisions.

HSBCnet is also the brand under which HSBC markets its global e-commerce proposition to its corporate and institutional clients.

HFC Bank (UK Operation) is a wholly owned subsidiary, with 135 High Street branches in the UK selling loans to the "sub-prime" market. During 2007 and 2008, it has been trying to fend off a union recognition campaign by the Trade Union Unite.

HSBC Direct

HSBC Direct is a telephone/online direct banking operation which attracts customers through mortgages, accounts and savings. It was first launched in the USA^[72] in November 2005 and is based on HSBC's 'First Direct' subsidiary in Britain which was launched in the 1980s. The service is now also available in Canada,^[73] Taiwan,^[74] South Korea^[75] and France. Poland is launching business direct in September 2009. In the US, HSBC Direct is now part of HSBC Advance^[76]

Brand and advertising

The group announced in November 1999 that the HSBC brand and the hexagon symbol would be adopted as the unified brand in all the markets where HSBC operates, with the aim of enhancing recognition of the group and its values by customers, shareholders and staff throughout the world.

Logo

The hexagon symbol was originally adopted by The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation as its logo in 1983. It was developed from the bank’s house flag, a white rectangle divided diagonally to produce a red hourglass shape. Like many other Hong Kong company flags that originated in the 19th century, and because of its founder's nationality, the design was based on the cross of Saint Andrew. The logo was designed by graphic artist Henry Steiner.^[77]

Sponsorship

The 2004 Jaguar car, being driven by Mark Webber.

Having sponsored the Jaguar Racing Formula One team since the days of Stewart Grand Prix, HSBC ended its relationship with the sport when Red Bull purchased Jaguar Racing from Ford. HSBC has now switched its focus to golf, taking title sponsorship of events such as the HSBC World Match Play Championship, HSBC Women's World Match Play Championship (now defunct), HSBC Champions and HSBC Women's Champions.

In football HSBC sponsors French club AS Monaco and Mexican club C.F. Pachuca, and in rugby league, HSBC sponsors Telford Raiders in the Rugby League Conference. In Australia, HSBC sponsors the New South Wales Waratahs rugby team in the Super 15 rugby union competition, as well as the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League.

HSBC’s other sponsorships are mainly in the area of education, health and the environment. In November 2006, HSBC announced a $5 million partnership with SOS Children as part of Future First.^[78]

HSBC sponsors the Great Canadian Geography Challenge, which has had around 2 million participants in the past 12 years. Since 2001, HSBC has sponsored the Celebration of Light, an annual musical fireworks competition in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. In 2007 HSBC announced it would be a sponsor of the National Hockey League's Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames. HSBC has also sponsored a professional gaming team that was disbanded late 2007. HSBC is also committed to local sponsorships, the Mandarins Cricket Club being one example.

HSBC sponsored the 2009 British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa.^[79]

HSBC is the official banking partner of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships, providing banking facilities on site and renaming the Road to Wimbledon junior event, as The HSBC Road to Wimbledon National 14 and Under Challenge.^[80]

HSBC was named the 'Official Banking Partner' of The Open Championship, in a five year deal announced in 2010.^[81]

See also

	London portal
	Companies portal

• HSBC Buildings
• List of banks in the United Kingdom
• List of buildings and structures in Hong Kong
• Primary dealers

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} "Company History of HSBC Holdings plc in Fundinguniverse.com". Fundinguniverse.com. http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/HSBC-Holdings-plc-company-History.html. Retrieved 20 Jan 2012. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "HSBC Group Structure". HSBC Holdings plc. http://www.hsbc.com/1/PA_esf-ca-app-content/content/assets/about_hsbc/110321_structure_chart.pdf. Retrieved 20 Jan 2012. 
3. ^ ^{a b} "Group history 1980–1999". HSBC Holdings plc. http://www.hsbc.com/1/2/!ut/p/kcxml/04_Sj9SPykssy0xPLMnMz0vM0Y_QjzKLN4o39DQGSYGYxqb6kShCBvGOCJEgfW99X4_83FT9AP2C3NCIckdHRQA4sRMO/delta/base64xml/L3dJdyEvd0ZNQUFzQUMvNElVRS82XzJfMUlT. Retrieved 4 September 2010. 
4. ^ ^{a b} "Group history 1865–1899". HSBC Holdings plc. http://www.hsbc.com/1/2/about/history/1865-1899. Retrieved 4 September 2010. 
5. ^ ^{a b} "Group Structure" HSBC website
6. ^ ^{a b c} "International network". HSBC Holdings plc. http://www.hsbc.com/1/2/about/network. Retrieved 4 September 2010. 
7. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} "2010 Form 10-K, HSBC Holdings plc". Hoover's. http://www.hoovers.com/company/HSBC_Holdings_plc/crksif-1-1njea5.html. 
8. ^ "The World's Biggest Public Companies". Forbes. http://www.forbes.com/global2000/. Retrieved 6 June 2011. 
9. ^ "About HSBC". HSBC Holdings plc. http://www.hsbc.com/1/2/about. Retrieved 7 March 2011. 
10. ^ ^{a b} "Annual Review 2009". HSBC Holdings plc. http://www.2009.annualreview.hsbc.com/annualreview/downloads/annual_review_2009.pdf. Retrieved 4 September 2010. 
11. ^ Vidya Ram, "HSBC Gets Back In Touch With Its Roots" Forbes, 03.10.08
12. ^ "FTSE All-Share Index Ranking". stockchallenge.co.uk. http://www.stockchallenge.co.uk/ftse.php. Retrieved 26 December 2011. 
13. ^ "HSBC Buys Bamerindus, Brazil Bank, For Billion". The New York Times. 28 March 1997. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9504E6D9143AF93BA15750C0A961958260. 
14. ^ "HSBC". UK Business Park. http://www.ukbusinesspark.co.uk/hsbcaaaa.htm. Retrieved 18 April 2011. 
15. ^ "Bank Group to Buy Republic New York". The New York Times. 11 May 1999. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A06EFDC153FF932A25756C0A96F958260. 
16. ^ Garfield, Andrew (3 April 2000). "HSBC leads the way into euro zone with £6.6bn French bank takeover". The Independent (London). http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/hsbc-leads-the-way-into-euro-zone-with-pound66bn-french-bank-takeover-719601.html. 
17. ^ "HSBC buys insolvent Turkish bank". BBC News. 20 July 2001. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1449170.stm. 
18. ^ "HSBC buys Mexico's biggest retail bank". BBC News. 21 August 2002. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/2207891.stm. 
19. ^ "HSBC HQ, Canary Wharf" (PDF). http://www.arup.com/_assets/_download/C27CDFAE-FA3D-3093-217B92CB1498B02C.pdf. Retrieved 18 April 2011. 
20. ^ Timmons, Heather (12 September 2003). "HSBC Gets Approval To Acquire Polish Bank". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D04E7D7103BF931A2575AC0A9659C8B63. 
21. ^ "HSBC 'buys stake in Chinese bank'". BBC News. 24 June 2004. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3835585.stm. 
22. ^ "M&S faces OFT inquiry into HSBC deal". The Independent (London). 12 September 2004. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/mamps-faces-oft-inquiry-into-hsbc-deal-545850.html. 
23. ^ [1]^{[dead link]}
24. ^ "HSBC closes in on Iraqi bank deal". BBC News. 2 October 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4302742.stm. 
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External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: HSBC

• Official website
• HSBC Private Bank

Business data

• HSBC Holdings plc at Google Finance
• HSBC Holdings plc at Yahoo! Finance
• HSBC Holdings plc at Hoover's
• HSBC Holdings plc at Reuters
• HSBC Holdings plc SEC filings at EDGAR Online
• HSBC Holdings plc SEC filings at the Securities and Exchange Commission

v d e HSBC Group Corporate directors: Douglas Flint (Group Chairman) Stuart Gulliver (Group CEO) Safra A. Catz Laura Cha Vincent Cheng Marvin Cheung John Coombe Rona Fairhead Sandy Flockhart James Hughes-Hallett Sam Laidlaw Rachel Lomax Iain Mackay Gwyn Morgan N. R. Narayana Murthy Sir Simon Robertson John L. Thornton Sir Brian Williamson Brands: First Direct Hang Seng Bank HSBC HSBC Bank International HSBC Premier HSBC Private Bank HSBC Trinkaus M&S Money Proa SABB Principal local banks: Argentina Brazil Canada People's Republic of China Egypt France Germany Hong Kong Malaysia Middle East Mexico Saudi Arabia Republic of China (Taiwan) United Kingdom United States Minority stakes and joint ventures: Bank of Communications (19%) HSBC Saudi Arabia (60%) British Arab Commercial Bank (47%) SABB (40%) Ping An Insurance (19.9%) Techcombank (15%) Bao Viet Holdings (18%) Bank of Shanghai (8%) Axis Bank (4.99%) Annual group revenue: US$98.9 billion (2010) Employees: 307,000 (2010) Stock symbols: LSE: HSBA, HKEX: 005, NYSE: HBC, Euronext: HSBC, BSX: 1077223879 Group website: www.hsbc.com Group Headquarters: 8 Canada Square, London, E14 5HQ, United Kingdom

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Coutts & Co. Drummonds Bank National Westminster Bank The Royal Bank of Scotland Ulster Bank Wholly state-owned National Savings and Investments UK Financial Investments Limited Bradford & Bingley4 Northern Rock (Asset Management)4 Other Airdrie Savings Bank Anglo Irish Bank Arbuthnot Latham & Co Butterfield Bank C. Hoare & Co Close Brothers Group Duncan Lawrie Egg GE Money Handelsbanken Harrods Bank ICICI Bank UK Islamic Bank of Britain Julian Hodge Bank Kingdom Bank Kleinwort Benson Metro Bank Northern Bank OneSavings Bank Raphaels Bank Reliance Bank N M Rothschild & Sons Standard Chartered Tesco Bank Triodos Bank Virgin Money Church House Trust Northern Rock "Big Four" banks are underlined and private banks are shown in italics 1 41% owned by H.M. Government 2 50:50 joint venture with J. Sainsbury plc 3 84% owned by H.M. 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