HSBC Private Bank (Monaco) S.A. was a subsidiary of

HSBC Private Bank HSBC Private Bank is the principal private banking business of the HSBC Group. HSBC Private Bank's holding company is HSBC Private Banking Holdings (Suisse) S.A.. The holding company is wholly owned by British HSBC Bank plc and its subsidiaries ...

, headquartered in

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

History

HSBC's presence in Monaco began in 1999 when it acquired Republic National Bank of New York and Safra Republic Holdings, both owned by financier

Edmond Safra Edmond Jacob Safra (; 6 August 1932 – 3 December 1999) was a Lebanese-Brazilian billionaire banker and philanthropist of Syrian descent. He continued his family tradition of banking in Brazil and Switzerland, and was married to Lily Watkins ...

. The transaction was valued at $10.3 billion

US dollars The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...

, the biggest foreign takeover deal for an American banking company as of then. By purchasing Safra Republic Holdings, HSBC acquired 44 offices holding client funds that total $56.5 billion, and 30,000 international clients in high-margin

private banking Private banking is a general description for banking, investment and other financial services provided by banks and financial institutions primarily serving high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) – those with very high income or substantial asset ...

in Switzerland, Luxembourg and Monaco. In 2006, HSBC Monaco was the biggest bank in Monaco in terms of assets, with 15 per cent market share of banking in Monaco and total assets under management valued at around $10 billion US dollars. It was also one of the most successful asset gathering subsidiaries of

. In October 2016, HSBC announced its decision to wind down its private banking operations in Monaco. This move was part of a broader strategy to streamline its services following various tax-related controversies, namely the

Swiss Leaks Swiss Leaks (or SwissLeaks) is a journalistic investigation, released in February 2015, of a giant tax evasion scheme allegedly operated with the knowledge and encouragement of the British multinational bank HSBC via its Swiss subsidiary, HSBC ...

and

Panama Papers The Panama Papers () are 11.5 million leaked documents (or 2.6 terabytes of data) published beginning April 3, 2016. The papers detail financial and attorney–client information for more than 214,488 offshore entities. These document ...

, associated with its Swiss subsidiary. The bank arranged for its clients in Monaco to be referred to CFM Indosuez Wealth Management, a subsidiary of

Crédit Agricole Crédit Agricole Group (), sometimes called La banque verte (, , due to its historical ties to farming), is a French international banking group and the world's largest cooperative financial institution. It is the second largest bank in France, ...

, which subsequently became the largest bank in Monaco. HSBC refocused its private banking operations to major centres in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

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Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

and

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hsbc Private Bank Monaco Banks of Monaco

Private banks

History

See also

References