For The History of The HSBC Group Prior To The Founding of HSBC Holdings in 1990, See
For The History of The HSBC Group Prior To The Founding of HSBC Holdings in 1990, See
For The History of The HSBC Group Prior To The Founding of HSBC Holdings in 1990, See
For the history of the HSBC Group prior to the founding of HSBC Holdings in 1990, see The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking
Corporation.
滙豐控股有限公司
Type Public
LSE: HSBA
SEHK: 005
NYSE: HBC
Euronext: HSB
BSX: 1077223879
Industry Banking
Financial services
Investment services
(Group Chairman)
Michael Geoghegan
(Group CEO)
Consumer Banking
Corporate Banking
Investment Banking
Investment Management
Private Equity
Mortgages
Credit Cards
Employees 302,000 (2009)[2]
HSBC Mexico
HSBC Finance
Website HSBC.com
HSBC Holdings plc (滙豐控股有限公司) is a global financial services corporation headquartered in London, United Kingdom.[1] As
of 2010, it is both the world's largest banking and financial services group and the world's 8th largest company according to a
composite measure by Forbes magazine.[3][4]HSBC was founded as The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation and Hong
Kong served as the bank's headquarters until 1992 when it moved to London as a condition of completing the acquisition of Midland
Bank and as the handover of Hong Kong's sovereignty approached.[5] Today, whilst no single geographical area dominates the
group's earnings, Hong Kong still continues to be a significant source of its income. Recent acquisitions and expansion inChina are
returning HSBC to part of its roots.[6] HSBC has an enormous operational base in Asia and significant lending, investment,
and insuranceactivities around the world. The company has a global reach and financial fundamentals matched by few other
HSBC is listed on the London, New York, Hong Kong, Paris and Bermuda Stock Exchanges, and is a constituent of the FTSE 100
Index and the Hang Seng Index. As of August 2010, it was the largest company listed on the FTSE, with a market capitalisation of
£115.8 billion.[8]
Contents
[hide]
1 History
o 1.1 Development of
the bank
o 1.2 Subprime crisis
2 Operations
o 2.1 Corporate profile
o 2.2 Latin America
o 2.3 Asia Pacific
o 2.4 Middle East
o 2.5 North America
o 2.6 Europe
programmes
o 3.1 Group Service
Centres
o 3.2 HSBC Private
Bank
o 3.3 HSBC Premier
o 3.4 HSBC Bank
International
o 3.5 HSBCnet
o 3.6 HSBC Direct
o 4.1 Logo
o 4.2 Sponsorship
5 Customer groups
o 5.1 Personal financial
services
o 5.2 Commercial
banking
o 5.3 Global banking
and markets
o 5.4 Private banking
6 See also
7 Notes
8 External links
[edit]History
For the history of the HSBC Group prior to the founding of HSBC Holdings in 1990, see The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking
Corporation.
HSBC (originally "The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation") was founded in Hong Kong (March) and Shanghai (one
month later) in 1865. HSBC Holdings was established in 1990 and became the parent company to The Hongkong and Shanghai
Banking Corporation in preparation for its purchase of Midland Bank and a change of domicile for the transfer of sovereignty of
Hong Kong. Shares in HSBC Holdings, which gave HSBC a substantial presence in the UK, was completed in 1992. As part of the
takeover conditions for the purchase of Midland, HSBC was required to move its world headquarters from Hong Kong to London in
1993.
Major acquisitions in South America started with the purchase of Banco Bamerindus of Brazil for $1bn in March 1997 [9] and the
HSBC Private Bank refurbishment and extension at 78 St. James's by Squire and Partners in London, United Kingdom.
In May 1999 HSBC embarked on a major acquisition in the United States with the purchase of Republic National Bank of New York
for $10.3bn.[11]
Expansion into Continental Europe took place in April 2000 with the acquisition of Crédit Commercial de France, a large French
In July 2001 HSBC bought Demirbank, an insolvent Turkish bank.[13] Then in August 2002 HSBC acquired Grupo Financiero Bital,
The new headquarters of HSBC Holdings at 8 Canada Square, London officially opened in April 2003. [15]
Then in September 2003 HSBC bought Polski Kredyt Bank SA of Poland for $7.8m. [16]
In June 2004 HSBC expanded into China buying 19.9% of the Bank of Communications of Shanghai.[17]
In the United Kingdom HSBC acquired Marks & Spencer Retail Financial Services Holdings Ltd for £763m in December 2004. [18]
Acquisitions in 2005 included Metris Inc, a US credit card issuer for $1.6bn in August [19] and 70.1% of Dar Es Salaam Investment
In April 2006 HSBC bought the 90 branches in Argentina of Banca Nazionale del Lavoro for $155m.[21]
[edit]Subprime crisis
In November 2002 HSBC expanded further in the United States. Under the chairmanship of Sir John Bond, it spent £9bn
(US$15.5bn) to acquire Household Finance Corporation (HFC), a US credit card issuer and subprime lender.[24] 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".[25] Under the new name of HSBC Finance, the division was the second largest subprime lender in the US.[26]
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. [27][28]
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."[29]; analyst Colin Morton said, "the takeover was an absolute disaster". [28][30]
Although it was at the centre of the subprime storm, the wider group has weathered the economic crisis better than other global
banks. According toBloomberg, "HSBC is one of world’s strongest banks by some measures."[31] 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. [32] 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.
[33]
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. [34]
[edit]Operations
[edit]Corporate profile
fluctuations in securities exchanges around the world relative to its rivals, HSBC is more well known in banking circles for its
conservative and risk-averse approach in its business operations - a company tradition going back to the 19th century. [37] 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
As of April 2, 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), 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
HSBC is by far the largest bank both in the United Kingdom and in Hong Kong and prints most of Hong Kong's local currency in its
own name. Since the end of 2005, HSBC has been rated the largest banking group in the world by Tier 1 capital.[40]
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 8,500 offices in 86 countries, 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.
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.[41] For details of other group companies see Category:HSBC.
[edit]Latin America
HSBC Mexico SA
[edit]Asia Pacific
[edit]Middle East
[edit]North America
HSBC Bank USA Inc
[edit]Europe
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, Hyderabad (India),Vishakhapatnam (India), Kolkata (India), Guangzhou (China),
and Curitiba (Brazil).
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
Trade unions, particularly in the US and UK, blame these centres for job losses in developed countries, and also for the effective
Republic (Ostrava),India (Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Visakhapatnam, Mumbai, Gurgaon and Pune), China (Shanghai,Guangz
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 June 27, 2006, HSBC reported that a "small number" of customers had suffered from fraud totaling £233,000 after an employee
at the Bangalore call centre supplied confidential customer information to fraudsters. [44]
HSBC Private Bank [45] 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,
[edit]HSBC Premier
HSBC Premier[46] 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 Bank International [47] 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 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-
[edit]HSBCnet
HSBCnet[48] 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
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, has been trying to fend off a union recognition campaign by the Trade Union Unite.
[edit]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[49] in November 2005 and is now available in Britain, Canada,[50] Taiwan[51], South Korea[52] and France.
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
[edit]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
[edit]Sponsorship
Having sponsored the Jaguar Racing Formula One team since the days of Stewart Grand Prix, HSBC ended its relationship with the
sport whenRed 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
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
In the United States, HSBC owns the naming rights to the home arena of the National Hockey League's Buffalo Sabres until 2026.
HSBC’s other sponsorships are mainly in the area of education, health and the environment. In November 2006, HSBC announced
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 sponsored the 2009 British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa.[54]
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. [55]
[edit]Customer groups
HSBC provides more than 100 million customers worldwide with a full range of personal financial services,
HSBC provides financial services to small, medium-sized and middle-market enterprises. The group has almost 2.5 million of such
[edit]Private banking
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