HSBC Holdings plc ( zh, t_hk=滙豐; initialism from its founding member

The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (), commonly abbreviated as HSBC and formerly known as HongkongBank (; styled ''Wayfoong'' by the bank), is the Hong Kong–based Asia-Pacific subsidiary of the HSBC banking group, for whi ...

) is a British

universal bank A universal bank is a type of bank which participates in many kinds of banking activities and is both a commercial bank and an investment bank as well as providing other financial services such as insurance. These are also called full-service ...

and

financial services Financial services are service (economics), economic services tied to finance provided by financial institutions. Financial services encompass a broad range of tertiary sector of the economy, service sector activities, especially as concerns finan ...

group headquartered 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 ...

, England, with historical and business links to

East Asia East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...

and a multinational footprint. It is the largest Europe-based bank by total assets, ahead of

BNP Paribas BNP Paribas (; sometimes referred to as BNPP or BNP) is a French multinational universal bank and financial services holding company headquartered in Paris. It was founded in 2000 from the merger of two of France's foremost financial instituti ...

, with US$3.098

trillion ''Trillion'' is a number with two distinct definitions: *1,000,000,000,000, i.e. one million 1,000,000, million, or (ten to the twelfth Exponentiation, power), as defined on the long and short scales, short scale. This is now the meaning in bot ...

as of September 2024. This also puts it as the 7th largest bank in the world by total assets behind

Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (Bank of America) (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in ...

, and the 3rd largest non-state owned bank in the world. In 2021, HSBC had $10.8 trillion in assets under custody (AUC) and $4.9 trillion in assets under administration (AUA). HSBC traces its origin to a ''hong'' trading house in

British Hong Kong Hong Kong was under British Empire, British rule from 1841 to 1997, except for a Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, brief period of Japanese occupation during World War II from 1941 to 1945. It was a crown colony of the United Kingdom from 1841 ...

. The bank was established in 1865 in

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 ...

and opened branches in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

in the same year. It was first formally incorporated in 1866. In 1991, the present parent legal entity, HSBC Holdings plc, was established in

and the historic Hong Kong–based bank from whose initials the group took its name became that entity's fully-owned subsidiary. The next year (1992), HSBC took over

Midland Bank Midland Bank plc was one of the Big Four (banks)#United Kingdom, Big Four banking groups in the United Kingdom for most of the 20th century. It is now part of HSBC. The bank was founded as the Birmingham and Midland Bank in Union Street, Birming ...

and thus became one of the largest domestic banks in the United Kingdom. HSBC has offices, branches and subsidiaries in 62 countries and territories across Africa, Asia, Oceania, Europe, North America, and South America, serving around 39 million customers. As of 2023, it was ranked no. 20 in the world in the Forbes rankings of large companies ranked by sales, profits, assets, and market value. HSBC has a dual primary listing on the

Hong Kong Stock Exchange The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (, SEHK, also known as Hong Kong Stock Exchange) is a stock exchange based in Hong Kong. It is one of the largest stock exchanges in Asia and the List of major stock exchanges, 9th largest globally by market ...

and

London Stock Exchange The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cath ...

and is a constituent of the

Hang Seng Index The Hang Seng Index (HSI) is a market-Capitalization-weighted index, capitalisation-weighted stock market index in Hong Kong adjusted for free float. It tracks and records daily changes in the largest stock listings on the Hong Kong Stock Exch ...

and the

FTSE 100 Index The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, also called the FTSE 100 Index, FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the "Footsie" , is the United Kingdom's best-known stock market index of the 100 most highly capitalised blue chips listed on ...

. It has secondary listings on the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...

, and the

Bermuda Stock Exchange The Bermuda Stock Exchange (BSX), established in 1971, is located in Hamilton, Bermuda. The stock exchange's 2010 'Year End Review' report stated that its aggregate market capitalisation (excluding mutual funds) stood at US$319 billion. The e ...

History

Foundation

First Generation of HSBC Building on the Bund

After the British established Hong Kong as a

crown colony A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony governed by Kingdom of England, England, and then Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain or the United Kingdom within the English overseas possessions, English and later British Empire. There was usua ...

in the aftermath of the

First Opium War The First Opium War ( zh, t=第一次鴉片戰爭, p=Dìyīcì yāpiàn zhànzhēng), also known as the Anglo-Chinese War, was a series of military engagements fought between the British Empire and the Chinese Qing dynasty between 1839 and 1 ...

, merchants from other parts of the British Empire, now in Hong Kong, felt the need for a bank to finance the growing trade, through Hong Kong and sometimes also through Shanghai, between China and

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, the rest of the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

and Europe, of goods, produces and merchandises of all kinds, but especially

opium Opium (also known as poppy tears, or Lachryma papaveris) is the dried latex obtained from the seed Capsule (fruit), capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid mor ...

, cultivated in or transited (re-exported) through ''the Raj''. The founder, Thomas Sutherland of P&O, wanted a bank operating on "sound Scottish banking principles". Still, the original location of the bank was considered crucial and the founders chose Wardley House in Hong Kong since the construction was based on some of the best

feng shui Feng shui ( or ), sometimes called Chinese geomancy, is a traditional form of geomancy that originated in ancient China and claims to use energy forces to harmonize individuals with their surrounding environment. The term ''feng shui'' mean ...

colonial Hong Kong Hong Kong was under British rule from 1841 to 1997, except for a brief period of Japanese occupation during World War II from 1941 to 1945. It was a crown colony of the United Kingdom from 1841 to 1981, and a dependent territory from 1981 to ...

.. After raising a capital stock of HK$5 million, the bank commenced operations on 3 March 1865. It opened a branch in

in April of that year and started issuing locally denominated banknotes in both the Crown Colony and Shanghai soon afterwards. The bank was incorporated in Hong Kong as The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation by ''the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank Ordinance'' (Numbers 2 and 5 of 1866), and a branch in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

was also established in

Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...

in 1866. Shares of the bank were one of 13 securities initially traded on the

Shanghai Stock Exchange The Shanghai Stock Exchange (, SSE) is a stock exchange based in the city of Shanghai, China. It is one of the three stock exchanges operating independently in mainland China, the others being the Beijing Stock Exchange and the Shenzhen Stock ...

, and were traded on that exchange until the Japanese closed the exchange in 1941.

Business development

Sir Thomas Jackson Sir Thomas Graham Jackson, 1st Baronet (21 December 1835 – 7 November 1924) was one of the most distinguished British architects of his generation. He is best remembered for his work at Oxford, including the Oxford Military College at Co ...

became chief manager in 1876. During his twenty-six-year tenure, the bank became a leader in Asia. A period of expansion followed, with new buildings constructed in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

(1921),

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

(1922) and

(1923), and a new head office building in Hong Kong in 1935. Bank note issuance displaced other forms of the era and of the region, such as silver

tael Tael ( ),"Tael" entry
at the

Michael Turner became chief manager in 1953 and set about diversifying the business. His tenure came to an end in 1962 having established The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation of California 1955 and having acquired The British Bank of the Middle East and the Mercantile Bank (based in India) in Aug 1959. Turner was succeeded in 1962 by

Jake Saunders Sir John Anthony Holt Saunders, CBE, DSO, MC (29 July 1917 – 4 July 2002) was chairman of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (now HSBC Holdings plc), at a time of rapid and turbulent development of the Hong Kong economy. In his ban ...

. In 1964 the Chief Managership was superseded as the top executive role in the bank by an Executive Chairmanship. During the Konfrontasi period in the 1960s, a group of Indonesian forces bombed the MacDonald House building in Singapore (at the time used by HSBC) just a few months after Singapore was granted its independence from Malaysia. Three people were killed, 33 injured, and the two Indonesian military officers responsible for the bombing were tried and executed. The present building in Hong Kong was designed by

Sir Norman Foster Norman Robert Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank (born 1 June 1935) is an English architect. Closely associated with the development of high-tech architecture, Lord Foster is recognised as a key figure in British modernist architecture. His ...

and was held as one of the most expensive and technologically advanced buildings in the world in 1986, costing HK$5.3 billion.

Creation of the HSBC Group

Striking new offices on the Thames near London Bridge - geograph

On 6 October 1989, it was registered as a regulated bank with the Banking Commissioner of the Government of Hong Kong. HSBC Holdings plc, originally incorporated in England and Wales, was a non-trading, dormant

shelf company A shelf corporation, shelf company, or aged corporation is a company or corporation that has had no activity. It was created and left with no activity – metaphorically put on the "shelf" to "age". The company can then be sold to a person or gr ...

when it completed its transformation on 25 March 1991 into the parent holding company to the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited now as a subsidiary, in preparation for its purchase of the UK-based

and the impending transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong to China. HSBC Holdings' acquisition of Midland Bank was completed in 1992 and gave HSBC a substantial market presence in the United Kingdom. As part of the takeover conditions for the acquisition of the bank thereof, 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 $1 billion in March 1997 and the acquisition of Roberts SA de Inversiones of Argentina for $600 million in May 1997. In May 1999, HSBC expanded its presence in the United States with the purchase of Republic National Bank of New York for $10.3 billion.

2000 to 2010

Expansion into

Continental Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous mainland of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by som ...

took place in April 2000 with the acquisition of

Crédit Commercial de France The ''Crédit Commercial de France'' (, "Commercial Credit ompanyof France", abbr. CCF) is a commercial bank in France, founded in 1894 as the ''Banque Suisse et Française'' and renamed to CCF in 1917. By the end of the 1920s, it had grown to b ...

, a large French bank, for £6.6 billion ($8.85 billion). In July 2001 HSBC bought

Demirbank Demirbank T.A.Ş. is a bank purchased on October 30, 2001, by HSBC from the Turkish Banking Regulator for £248 million. The purchase did not include the non-Turkish subsidiaries of Demirbank, e.g. Demirbank Romania, Demirbank Azerbaijan or Demirb ...

, an

insolvent In accounting, insolvency is the state of being unable to pay the debts, by a person or company ( debtor), at maturity; those in a state of insolvency are said to be ''insolvent''. There are two forms: cash-flow insolvency and balance-sheet in ...

Turkish bank. In July 2002,

Arthur Andersen Arthur Andersen LLP was an American accounting firm based in Chicago that provided auditing, tax advising, consulting and other professional services to large corporations. By 2001, it had become one of the world's largest multinational corpo ...

announced that HSBC USA, Inc., through a new subsidiary, Wealth and Tax Advisory Services USA Inc. (

WTAS Andersen Tax LLC is a tax firm headquartered in San Francisco, California, United States. It provides tax, valuation, financial advisory and consulting services to individuals and corporate clients. As of 2015, Andersen Global has a presence in ...

), 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 $1.1 billion. In November 2002, HSBC expanded further in the United States. Under the chairmanship of John Bond, it spent £9 billion (US$15.5 billion) to acquire Household Finance Corporation (HFC), a US credit card issuer and

subprime In finance, subprime lending (also referred to as near-prime, subpar, non-prime, and second-chance lending) is the provision of loans to people in the United States who may have difficulty maintaining the repayment schedule. Historically, subpr ...

lender. In a 2003 cover story, ''

The Banker ''The Banker'' is an English-language monthly international financial affairs publication owned by '' The Financial Times'' and edited in London, United Kingdom. The magazine was first published in January 1926 through founding editor Brendan ...

'' noted "when banking historians look back, they may conclude that twas the deal of the first decade of the 21st century". Under the new name of

HSBC Finance HSBC Finance Corporation is a financial services company and a subsidiary of HSBC Holdings. It is the sixth-largest issuer of MasterCard and Visa credit cards in the United States. HSBC Finance Corporation was formed from the legal entity th ...

, the division was the second largest subprime lender in the United States. The new headquarters of HSBC Holdings at

8 Canada Square 8 Canada Square is a 45 floor skyscraper in Canary Wharf, London. The building is the global headquarters of HSBC, HSBC Holdings. Design and construction Having been commissioned by the owners of the Canary Wharf Site to undertake the outline d ...

, London officially opened in April 2003. In July 2003, HSBC announced that it had agreed to acquire 82.19% of the Korean fund administrator, Asset Management Technology (AM TeK), for $12.47 million in cash; it was the largest fund administrator in South Korea, with $24 billion of assets under administration. In September 2003 HSBC bought Polski Kredyt Bank SA of Poland for $7.8 million. In June 2004 HSBC expanded into China buying 19.9% of the

Bank of Communications Bank of Communications (BOCOM or BankComm) is a Chinese multinational banking and financial services corporation. It was originally established in 1908 and was one of a handful of domestic Chinese banks that issued banknotes in modern history. ...

of Shanghai. In the United Kingdom HSBC acquired Marks & Spencer Retail Financial Services Holdings Ltd for £763 million in December 2004. Acquisitions in 2005 included Metris Inc, a US credit card issuer for $1.6 billion in August and 70.1% of Dar es Salaam Investment Bank of Iraq in October. In April 2006, HSBC bought the 90 branches in Argentina of

Banca Nazionale del Lavoro Banca Nazionale del Lavoro S.p.A. (BNL) is an Italian bank headquartered in Rome. Established in 1913, the bank has been a subsidiary of BNP Paribas since 2006. Integration process was concluded in 2008, BNL with its group oversees the commercial ...

for $155 million. In December 2007 HSBC acquired the Chinese Bank in Taiwan. In May 2008, HSBC acquired

IL&FS Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Limited (IL&FS) is an Indian state-funded infrastructure development and finance company. It was created by public sector banks and insurance companies. It operates through more than 250 subsidiaries ...

Investment, an Indian retail broking firm. On August 3, 2008, HSBC began its banking operations in Algeria with the opening of a branch in Algiers. In 2005, Bloomberg Markets magazine accused HSBC of

money laundering Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds i ...

for drug dealers and state sponsors of terrorism. Then-CEO Stephen Green said that "This was a singular and wholly irresponsible attack on the bank's international compliance procedures", but subsequent investigation indicated that it was accurate and proved that the bank was involved in money laundering for the

Sinaloa Cartel The Sinaloa Cartel (, , after the native Sinaloa region), also known as the ''CDS'', the ''Guzmán-Loera Organization'', the ''Federation'', the ''Sinaloa Cartel'', or the Pacific Cartel, is a large, drug trafficking transnational organized cri ...

and throughout

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. In July 2006, HSBC announced that it would acquire

Westpac Westpac Banking Corporation, also known as Westpac, is an Australian multinational banking and financial services company headquartered at Westpac Place in Sydney. Established in 1817 as the Bank of New South Wales, it acquired the Commerc ...

's sub-custody operations in Australia and New Zealand for $112.5 million, making HSBC the leading sub-custody and clearing player in Australia and New Zealand. In 2007, HSBC wrote down its holdings of subprime-related mortgage securities by $10.5 billion, becoming the first major bank to report its losses due to the unfolding

subprime mortgage crisis The American subprime mortgage crisis was a multinational financial crisis that occurred between 2007 and 2010, contributing to the 2008 financial crisis. It led to a severe economic recession, with millions becoming unemployed and many busines ...

. According to

Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to: People * Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer * Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian * Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician a ...

, "HSBC is one of world's strongest banks by some measures". When

HM Treasury His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury or HMT), and informally referred to as the Treasury, is the Government of the United Kingdom’s economic and finance ministry. The Treasury is responsible for public spending, financial services policy, Tax ...

required all UK banks to increase their capital in October 2007, the group transferred £750 million ($1.006 billion) to London within hours, and announced that it had just lent £4 billion ($5.37 billion) to other UK banks. In March 2009, HSBC announced that it would shut down the branch network of its HSBC Finance arm in the United States, leading to nearly 6,000 job losses and leaving only the credit card business to continue operating.Jon Menon
HSBC Rues Household Deal, Halts U.S. Subprime Lending

Bloomberg L.P. Bloomberg L.P. is an American privately-held financial, software, data, and media company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It was co-founded by Michael Bloomberg in 1981, with Thomas Secunda, Duncan MacMillan, Charles Ze ...

2 March 2009. 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." According to analyst Colin Morton, "the takeover was an absolute disaster". In March 2009, it announced that it had made US$9.3 billion of profit in 2008 and announced a £12.5 billion (US$17.7 billion; HK$138 billion)

rights issue A rights issue or rights offer is a dividend of subscription rights to buy additional securities in a company made to the company's existing security holders. When the rights are for equity securities, such as shares, in a public company, it can ...

to enable it to buy other banks that were struggling to survive. 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.

2010 to 2013

On 25 April 2011, HSBC decided to shut down its retail banking business in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and reduce its private banking presence to a representative office. HSBC announced renaming of its Personal Financial Services (PFS) business group to Retail Banking and Wealth Management (also known as RBWM) on HSBC's 2011 Investor Day. On 11 May 2013, the new chief executive

Stuart Gulliver Stuart Thomson Gulliver (born 9 March 1959) is a British banker, and the former group chief executive of HSBC. He was succeeded on 21 February 2018 by John Flint. Early life and education He was born in Derby, England, in 1959. His father P ...

announced that HSBC 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 spiraling and US$3.5 billion needed to be saved by 2013, with the aim of bringing overheads down from 55% of revenues to 48%. In 2010, then-chairman Stephen Green planned to depart HSBC to accept a government appointment in the Trade Ministry. Group Chief Executive

Michael Geoghegan Michael Francis Geoghegan CBE (born 4 October 1953) is an international banking business executive, who served as the chief executive (CEO) of HSBC from 26 March 2006 to 31 December 2010. He joined HSBC in 1973 and had previously led the group's ...

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. HSBC's board of directors had reportedly been split over the succession planning and investors were alarmed that the row would damage the company. On 23 September 2010, Geoghegan announced he would step down as chief executive of HSBC. He was succeeded as chief executive by

, 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 two 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,

, high-growth markets such as Mexico, Singapore, Turkey, and Brazil, and smaller countries where it has a leading market share. 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." In August 2011 "to align our U.S. business with our global network and meet the local and international needs of domestic and overseas clients", HSBC agreed to sell 195 branches in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

and

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

to First Niagara Financial Group Inc, and divestitures to

KeyCorp KeyBank is an American regional bank headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, and the 27th largest bank in the United States. Organized under the publicly traded KeyCorp, KeyBank was formed from the 1994 merger of the Cleveland-based Society Corpora ...

, Community Bank, N.A. and Five Star Bank for around $1 billion, and announced the closure of 13 branches in Connecticut and

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. The rest of HSBC's U.S. network will only be about half from a total 470 branches before divestments. On 9 August 2011,

Capital One Capital One Financial Corporation is an American bank holding company founded on July 21, 1994, and specializing in credit cards, auto loans, banking, and savings accounts, headquartered in Tysons, Virginia, with operations primarily in the ...

Financial Corp. agreed to acquire HSBC's U.S. credit card business for $2.6 billion, netting HSBC Holdings an estimated after-tax profit of $2.4 billion. In September it was announced that HSBC sought to sell its general insurance business for around $1 billion. In 2012, HSBC was the subject of hearings of the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

permanent subcommittee for investigations for severe deficiencies in its anti-money laundering practices (see

Controversies Controversy (, ) is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view. The word was coined from the Latin '' controversia'', as a composite of ''controversus'' – "turned in an opp ...

). On 16 July the committee presented its findings. Among other things, it concluded that HSBC had been transferring $7 billion in banknotes from its Mexican to its US subsidiary (much of it related to

drug dealing The illegal drug trade, drug trafficking, or narcotrafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types ...

), was disregarding terrorist financing links and was actively circumventing US safeguards designed to prevent transactions involving terrorists, drug lords and rogue regimes, including hiding $19.4 billion in transactions with Iran. This investigation followed on from a probe by the US Federal Reserve and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency found that there was "significant potential for unreported money laundering or terrorist financing". On 11 December 2012, HSBC agreed to pay a record $1.92 billion fine in this money laundering case. It was reported that bank officials consistently overlooked internal warnings about the inadequacy of HSBC's monitoring systems, according to the Justice Department. For example, in 2008, the CEO of HSBC Mexico was reportedly informed by Mexican law enforcement about a recording of a Mexican drug lord, who indicated that HSBC Mexico was a preferred location for money laundering. The

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...

, however, decided not to pursue criminal penalties, a decision which the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' labelled a "dark day for the rule of law." HSBC chief executive Stuart Gulliver said: "We accept responsibility for our past mistakes. We have said we are profoundly sorry for them, and we do so again."

Since 2013

In July 2013, Alan Keir was appointed chief executive of HSBC Bank plc after Brian Robertson's resignation. Keir's duties include overseeing the firm's UK, European, Middle Eastern, and African divisions. In June 2014, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary HSBC Life (UK) Limited agreed to sell its £4.2 billion UK pensions business to

Swiss Re Swiss Re Ltd is a Swiss reinsurance company founded in 1863 and headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland. It is one of the world's largest reinsurers, as measured by gross premiums written. Swiss Re operates through around 80 offices in 29 countri ...

. In February 2015 the

International Consortium of Investigative Journalists The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, Inc. (ICIJ), is an independent global network of 280 investigative journalists and over 140 media organizations spanning more than 100 countries. It is based in Washington, D.C., with ...

released information about the business conduct of HSBC under the title ''

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 ...

'' based on the 2007 hacked HSBC account records from whistle-blower

Hervé Falciani Hervé Daniel Marcel Falciani (; born 9 January 1972) is a French-Italian systems engineer and whistleblower who is credited with "the biggest banking leak in history." In 2008, Falciani began collaborating with numerous European nations by prov ...

. The ICIJ alleges that the bank profited from doing business with corrupt politicians, dictators, tax evaders, dealers of blood diamonds, arms dealers and other clients. US Senate investigators in 2012 had sought the hacked HSBC account records from Falciani and French authorities, but never received the data. HSBC announced in August 2015 that it would be selling its

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

ian unit to

Banco Bradesco Banco Bradesco S.A. is a Brazilian financial services company headquartered in Osasco, in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. It is the third largest banking institution by assets in Brazil and Latin America. It is also one of fifty most valuable ba ...

for $5.2 billion following years of disappointing performance. In 2015, HSBC was recognised as the most trusted foreign bank in India by The Brand Trust Report 2015. In 2016, the bank was mentioned numerous times in connection with the

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 ...

investigation. Many Syrians were angered when their accounts were judged high-risk and closed, despite the bank reportedly telling

Mossack Fonseca Mossack Fonseca & Co. () was a Panamanian law firm and corporate service provider.Rami Makhlouf Rami Makhlouf (; born 10 July 1969) is a Syrian businessman and a maternal cousin of former president Bashar al-Assad. At the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011, he was considered one of Syria's richest and most powerful men. According t ...

as a customer, even though US Treasury sanctions against him were in effect at the time. On 20 March 2017, the British newspaper ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' reported that hundreds of banks had helped launder

KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...

-related funds out of

, as uncovered by an investigation named Global Laundromat. HSBC was listed among the 17 banks in the UK that were "facing questions over what they knew about the international scheme and why they did not turn away suspicious money transfers," as HSBC "processed $545.3m in Laundromat cash, mostly routed through its

branch." Other banks facing scrutiny under the investigation included the

Royal Bank of Scotland The Royal Bank of Scotland Public Limited Company () is a major retail banking, retail and commercial bank in Scotland. It is one of the retail banking subsidiaries of NatWest Group, together with NatWest and Ulster Bank. The Royal Bank of Sco ...

NatWest National Westminster Bank, trading as NatWest, is a major Retail banking, retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom based in London, England. It was established in 1968 by the Corporate merger, merger of National Provincial Bank and We ...

, Lloyds,

Barclays Barclays PLC (, occasionally ) is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services ...

and

Coutts Coutts & Co. () is a British private bank and wealth manager headquartered in London, England. Founded in 1692, it is the eighth oldest bank in the world. Today, Coutts forms part of NatWest Group's wealth management division. In the Channe ...

. In response, HSBC stated that it was against financial crime, and that the case "highlights the need for greater information sharing between the public and private sectors." On 1 October 2017, Mark Tucker succeeded Douglas Flint as group chairman of HSBC, the first non-executive and outside chairman appointed by the group. Also in October 2017, HSBC announced that John Flint, chief executive of Retail Banking and Wealth Management, would succeed Stuart Gulliver as Group Chief Executive on 21 February 2018. It was further announced on 5 August 2019 that Flint was leaving and his role would be filled on a temporary basis by Noel Quinn, head of HSBC's global commercial bank. Noel Quinn was subsequently appointed to the role on a permanent basis in March 2020. In February 2020, HSBC announced it would cut 35,000 jobs worldwide after it was announced corporate profits decreased by 33% in 2019. In 2020, HSBC announced merging two of its business lines: Retail Banking and Wealth Management & Global Private Banking to form a new business unit as Wealth and Personal Banking. In October 2020, HSBC committed to achieve zero-emission by 2050, e.g., by this year it would not only become carbon neutral by itself but also will work only with carbon-neutral clients. It also committed to providing 750–1,000 billion dollars to help clients make the transition. It also pledged to achieve

carbon neutrality Global net-zero emissions is reached when greenhouse gas emissions and removals due to human activities are in balance. It is often called simply net zero. ''Emissions'' can refer to all greenhouse gases or only carbon dioxide (). Reaching net ze ...

in his own operations by 2030. In January 2021, HSBC announced that it would be closing 82 branches in Britain. In May 2021, HSBC announced the exit of US retail banking business by selling 10 California branches to

Cathay Bank Cathay Bank () is a Chinese American bank founded in 1962. Cathay is headquartered in Chinatown, Los Angeles, with a corporate center in nearby El Monte, California. It has branches in California, Massachusetts, New York, Texas, Washington, ...

and 80 branches to

Citizens Financial Group Citizens Financial Group, Inc. is an American bank holding company, headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island. The company owns the bank Citizens Bank, N.A., which operates in the U.S. states of Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Maryland, Massach ...

and closing the remaining branches. The bank said it intends to focus on the banking and wealth management needs of globally connected affluent and high net worth clients. In May 2021, HSBC committed to end the financing of the

coal industry Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

, with a commitment to publish a new coal policy and provide further detail on its climate strategy by the end of 2021. The organisation's "Thermal Coal Phase-Out Policy" was published in December 2021. The company broke its coal pledge in 2023 when it helped raise $1 billion for Glencore, a mining giant that had ramped up coal production. In August 2021, HSBC announced the acquisition of

AXA Axa S.A. is a French multinational insurance corporation headquartered in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. It also provides investment management and other financial services via its subsidiaries. As of 2024, it is the fourth largest financi ...

Singapore. HSBC Insurance (Asia-Pacific) Holdings Ltd, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of HSBC would acquire 100% of the issued share capital of AXA Singapore for $575m. In December 2021, HSBC Asset Management (India) Private Ltd, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of HSBC announced it would acquire L&T Investment Management for $425 million from L&T Finance Holdings. In June 2022, HSBC announced its intention to sell its business in Russia. This requires approval from the Russian government, and the deal is expected to close in the first half of 2024. The projected loss is $300 million. A possible buyer is the Russian

Expobank Expobank JSC is a Russian commercial bank headquartered in Moscow. It was founded in 1994 and is a subsidiary of Expobank LLC, which is registered in Cyprus. The bank offers a range of financial services, including corporate and retail banking, ...

. In February 2024, the President of Russia allowed HSBC and Expobank to carry out this transaction. In July 2022, HSBC became the first foreign lender to open a

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

(CCP) committee in its Chinese investment banking subsidiary. The subsidiary, HSBC Qianhai Securities, is a 90% HSBC-owned joint venture. In November 2022, HSBC announced its intention to exit the Canadian market.

Royal Bank of Canada Royal Bank of Canada (RBC; ) is a Canadian multinational Financial institution, financial services company and the Big Five (banks), largest bank in Canada by market capitalization. The bank serves over 20 million clients and has more than ...

would acquire 100% of the common shares of HSBC Canada for an all-cash purchase price of $13.5 billion, 9.4 times HSBC Canada's estimated 2024 earnings. Completion of the transaction is expected by late 2023, subject to regulatory approvals. HSBC has been under pressure to cut costs and divest non-Asian businesses. In February 2023, HSBC announced that its profits for the last quarter of 2022 had almost doubled compared to those at the same time the previous year. However, its pre-tax profit actually fell because it absorbed the cost of selling its French retail banking operations. The bank also announced that they were closing 114 branches in the United Kingdom. The move came as more people were using online banking since the pandemic, reducing the need for physical branches. The move has been criticized by

Unite Unite may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Albums * ''Unite'' (1GN album), 2016 * ''Unite'' (A Friend in London album), 2013 * ''Unite'' (Kool & the Gang album), 1992 * ''Unite'' (The O.C. Supertones album), 2005 Songs *"Unite!" ...

. As

interest In finance and economics, interest is payment from a debtor or deposit-taking financial institution to a lender or depositor of an amount above repayment of the principal sum (that is, the amount borrowed), at a particular rate. It is distinct f ...

rates increased globally in May 2023, HSBC Holdings reported a 212% increase in

quarterly A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

profit. In May 2023, HSBC defeated a proposal, backed by its largest stakeholder Chinese insurer Ping An, to consider spinning off its Asia business into a Hong Kong-listed entity. In December 2023, HSBC Asset Management announced they would be acquiring the Singapore Based Investment manager, Silkroad Property Partners. The proposed acquisition includes Singapore-based SilkRoad Property Partners Pte Ltd, along with its subsidiaries in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo, and the five general partner entities associated with its active funds. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The deal would expand HSBC's real estate fund management capabilities in the region by bringing on board a business with an estimated $2 billion in assets under management, primarily in value-add strategies, as well as a senior team with experience executing deals in the region's major cities. HSBC announced, in December 2023, that it intended to move its head office from

to 81 Newgate Street when the lease on the former building expires in 2027. In 2024, HSBC, as part of the

Hong Kong Association of Banks The Hong Kong Association of Banks (HKAB; ) is an association created based on a series of Bank Ordinances enacted since 1948. In 1981 the association was established and replaced the Exchange Bank Association. The ordinance provides a framework ...

, began developing a roadmap to phase out cheques in the city and switch to electronic payments. According to Hong Kong Interbank Clearing Limited, cheque transactions in

fell to HK$488.6 billion (US$62.5 billion) in December, down 13 percent year-on-year. In 2024, HSBC announced an international payments app, Zing, a competitor to

Revolut Revolut Group Holdings Ltd, doing business as Revolut, is a British multinational neobank and fintech company that offers banking services for individuals and businesses. It was founded in July 2015 by British-Russian-French businessman Niko ...

and Wise apps. It will also focus on retail customers and low-cost currency exchange. In January 2025, HSBC decided to shut down the app only one year after its launch, as part of a cost-cutting drive. In 2024, HSBC Philippines launched "Omni Collect" to allow companies to connect to HSBC's single

API An application programming interface (API) is a connection between computers or between computer programs. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that describes how to build ...

to offer and manage payments across multiple channels. "It supports multiple online and offline payment options for customers and delivers transaction data through HSBC’s global digital platform, HSBCnet," the bank Head Art Tanseco said. On 9 April 2024, HSBC announced the sale of its Argentina business to Galicia for $550 million. HSBC said that the deal awaited government approval but was expected to be finalized by the year-end. HSBC was also approved to exit its Armenia holdings by the central bank in a sale to Ardshinbank on 27 August. In January 2025, HSBC announced the closure of some of its investment banking units in Europe, UK and US as part of the ongoing restructuring effort by its CEO

Georges Elhedery Georges Elhedery (born 1973 or 1974) is a Lebanese banker, who has been the chief executive (CEO) of HSBC since February 2025, having succeeded Noel Quinn. Early life Elhedery was born in Beirut, Lebanon. His father was a banker, and his moth ...

, followed by a new round of investment bank job cuts. These significant revamps were expected to bring $1.8 billion cost savings by the end of 2026. In May 2025, HSBC announced that group chairman Mark Tucker would retire by the end of 2025 after an eight-year stint at the bank.

Operations

HSBC has its world headquarters at

Canary Wharf Canary Wharf is a financial area of London, England, located in the Isle of Dogs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The Greater London Authority defines it as part of London's central business district, alongside Central London. Alongside ...

. In June 2023, the bank announced its intentions to exit this building when its lease expires in 2027, stating their intention to move to a building in the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

near

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...

. HSBC's U.S. headquarters is located at The Spiral in Hudson Yards, a neighbourhood in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. Designed by M Moser Associates, it is a 260,000-square-foot, zero-carbon office space.

Size, profit and auditors

* As of 2014, according to Relsbank, HSBC was the fourth-largest bank in the world by assets (with $2,670.00 billion), the second largest in terms of revenues (with $146.50 billion) and the largest in terms of market value (with $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 Citigroup Inc. or Citi (Style (visual arts), stylized as citi) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services company based in New York City. The company was formed in 1998 by the merger of Citicorp, t ...

's $3.62 billion and

's $14.98 billion in the same period). * In June 2006,

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...

stated that since the end of 2005 HSBC has been rated the largest banking group in the world by

Tier 1 capital Tier 1 capital is the core measure of a bank's financial strength from a regulator's point of view.By definition of Bank for International Settlements. It is composed of ''core capital'', which consists primarily of common stock and disclosed ...

. In June 2014

ranked HSBC first in Western Europe and 5th in the world for

. * In February 2008, HSBC was named the world's most valuable banking brand by ''The Banker'' magazine. * HSBC has been audited by

PwC PricewaterhouseCoopers, also known as PwC, is a Multinational corporation, multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is one of the Big Fo ...

, one of the

Big Four auditors The Big Four are the four largest professional services networks in the world: Deloitte, EY, KPMG, and PwC. They are the four largest global accounting networks as measured by revenue. The four are often grouped because they are comparabl ...

since 2015. * Despite being domiciled in the UK, HSBC generates around two-thirds of its profits in Asia, with China contributing 44% of the bank's profit in 2022.

Principal business groups and divisions

HSBC organises its customer-facing activities within three business groups: Commercial Banking (CMB); Global Banking and Markets (GBM); Wealth and Personal Banking (WPB).

Commercial Banking

Commercial Banking group has more than 2 million commercial banking customers, including

sole proprietors A sole proprietorship, also known as a sole tradership, individual entrepreneurship or proprietorship, is a type of enterprise owned and run by only one person and in which there is no legal distinction between the owner and the business entity. ...

, partnerships, clubs and associations, incorporated businesses and publicly quoted companies.

Wealth and Personal Banking

Wealth and Personal Banking group helps customers to take care of their day-to-day finances and to manage, protect and grow their wealth. HSBC provides more than 54 million such customers. It is focused on three operational divisions: Wealth Management, Global Asset Management, and Global Private Banking. Retail Banking and Wealth Management (also known as RBWM) was previously referred to as Personal Financial Services (PFS). This rename was announced during HSBC's 2011 Investor Day. In 2020, HSBC announced merging two of its business lines: Retail Banking and Wealth Management & Global Private Banking to form a new business unit as Wealth and Personal Banking.

Group service centers

COO Alan Jebson said in March 2005 that he would be very surprised if fewer than 25,000 people were working in the centers 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 centers) 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).

Trades union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

s, particularly in the UK and US, blame these centers for job losses and also for the effective imposition of wage caps on their members.

Principal subsidiaries

These are HSBC's subsidiaries worldwide: ;Africa * HSBC Mauritius (Only commercial banking) * HSBC South Africa (Only commercial banking) ;Asia-Pacific *

HSBC (Hong Kong) The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (), commonly abbreviated as HSBC and formerly known as HongkongBank (; styled ''Wayfoong'' by the bank), is the Hong Kong–based Asia-Pacific subsidiary of the HSBC banking group, for wh ...

Hang Seng Bank Hang Seng Bank Limited () is a Hong Kong–based banking and financial services company with headquarters in Central, Hong Kong. It is one of Hong Kong's leading public companies in terms of market capitalisation and is part of the HSBC Grou ...

*** Hang Seng Bank (China) *

HSBC Bank Australia HSBC Bank Australia Limited (formerly the Hongkong Bank of Australia Limited) is the Australian subsidiary of HSBC. The bank offers a wide range of financial services in Australia through a network of 36 branches and offices. These services in ...

* HSBC Bangladesh * HSBC China *

HSBC Bank India The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, India (HSBC India) or HSBC Bank India, is incorporated in Hong Kong SAR with limiteliability It is a foreign bank under the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 and thus is regulated by the Reser ...

* HSBC Bank Indonesia * HSBC Japan (Only commercial banking) (HSBC withdrew consumer retail banking from Japan in 2012) * HSBC Korea (Only commercial banking) (HSBC withdrew consumer retail banking from South Korea in 2013) * HSBC Bank Macau *

HSBC Bank Malaysia HSBC Bank Malaysia Berhad(formerly the Hongkong Bank Malaysia Berhad) was incorporated locally in Malaysia on 1 October 1984. It is part of the HSBC Group and is a wholly owned subsidiary of HSBC Holdings plc, headquartered in London.

* HSBC Maldives (Only commercial banking) (HSBC withdrew consumer retail banking from Maldives in 2016) * HSBC New Zealand (Only commercial banking) (HSBC withdrew consumer retail banking from New Zealand in 2024) * HSBC Bank Philippines * HSBC Bank Singapore *

HSBC Sri Lanka HSBC Sri Lanka is a banking and financial services company in Sri Lanka and is a licensed commercial bank supervised by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. It is the largest and one of the oldest banks in Sri Lanka. HSBC opened its doors in Sri Lanka ...

* HSBC Taiwan * HSBC Thailand (Only commercial banking) (HSBC withdrew consumer retail banking from Thailand in 2012) * HSBC Bank Vietnam ;Europe * HSBC Austria (Only Asset Management) * HSBC Channel Islands and Isle of Man *

HSBC Continental Europe HSBC Continental Europe, known until December 2020 as HSBC France SA, is a subsidiary of HSBC, headquartered in Paris. It has been designated as a Significant Institution since the entry into force of European Banking Supervision in late 2014, a ...

(Only commercial banking). Formed by: ** HSBC Continental Europe, Belgium ** HSBC Continental Europe, Czech Republic ** HSBC Continental Europe, France ** HSBC Continental Europe, Germany ** HSBC Continental Europe, Ireland ** HSBC Continental Europe, Italy ** HSBC Continental Europe, Luxembourg ** HSBC Continental Europe, Netherlands ** HSBC Continental Europe, Poland ** HSBC Continental Europe, Spain ** HSBC Continental Europe, Sweden * HSBC Denmark (Only Asset Management) * HSBC Finland (Only Asset Management) * HSBC Greece (Only Asset Management) (HSBC withdrew consumer retail banking from Greece in 2023) *

HSBC Bank Malta HSBC Bank Malta public limited company, plc is the Malta, Maltese subsidiary of the British multinational banking and financial services company HSBC. The company is headquartered in Qormi and operates over 12 branches and offices throughout th ...

* HSBC Norway (Only Asset Management) * HSBC Portugal (Only Asset Management) * HSBC Switzerland * HSBC UK Bank plc ;The Americas *

HSBC Bank Bermuda The original logo of The Bank of Bermuda before it joined the HSBC Group HSBC Bank Bermuda Limited, previously the Bank of Bermuda Limited, is a financial services company in Bermuda providing retail and corporate banking, investment, custody an ...

* HSBC Brazil (Only commercial banking) (HSBC withdrew consumer retail banking from Brazil in 2016) * HSBC Institutional Trust Services (British Virgin Islands) * HSBC Cayman Services (Cayman Islands) (HSBC withdrew consumer retail banking from the Cayman Islands in 2014) * HSBC Bank Chile (Only commercial banking) * HSBC Colombia (HSBC withdrew consumer retail banking from Colombia in 2012) * HSBC Peru (HSBC withdrew consumer retail banking from Peru in 2012) *

HSBC México HSBC México, S.A., the principal operating company of Grupo Financiero HSBC, S.A. de C.V., is one of Mexico’s four largest banking and financial service companies, with 1,400 branches and 5,200 ATMs. HSBC purchased Banco Internacional, S.A. ...

* HSBC Uruguay *

HSBC Bank USA HSBC Bank USA, National Association, an American subsidiary of the British banking group HSBC, is a bank with its operational head office in New York City and its nominal head office in Tysons, Virginia (as designated on its charter). HSBC Bank ...

** HSBC Securities (USA) Inc. ;Middle East *

HSBC Bank Egypt HSBC Bank Egypt SAE is a multinational bank in Egypt, providing a wide range of banking and related financial services through a network of 100 branches and 20 mini bank units in Cairo, Alexandria, Sharm El Sheikh, Hurghada and 6th of October Ci ...

* HSBC Israel (Only commercial banking) * HSBC Lebanon (Only commercial banking) (HSBC withdrew consumer retail banking from Lebanon in 2016) *

HSBC Bank Middle East HSBC Bank Middle East Limited (Arabic: إتش إس بي سي الشرق الأوسط) is the largest and most widely represented international bank in the Middle East. History The Imperial Bank of Persia (Persian: بانک شاهنشاهی ا� ...

. Formed by: ** HSBC Bank Middle East Limited Algeria Branch (Only commercial banking) ** HSBC Bank Middle East Limited Bahrain Branch ** HSBC Bank Middle East Limited Kuwait Branch (Only commercial banking) ** HSBC Bank Middle East Limited Oman Branch (Only commercial banking) (HSBC withdrew consumer retail banking from Oman in 2023) ** HSBC Bank Middle East Limited Qatar Branch ** HSBC Bank Middle East Limited UAE Branch *

Saudi Awwal Bank Saudi Awwal Bank (SAB; ) is a Riyadh-based Saudi joint stock company in which global banking group HSBC owns a minority stake. The bank traces its origins to the British Bank of the Middle East which was acquired by HSBC in 1959. In response ...

HSBC Saudi Arabia HSBC Saudi Arabia Limited is a joint venture between The Saudi British Bank (SABB) and HSBC Holdings plc, established in 2005, as a limited liability company headquartered in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia with a share capital of SAR 50 million (US$13.33 ...

HSBC Bank (Turkey) HSBC Bank A.Ş., the Turkey subsidiary of the HSBC Group, is a bank with its head office in Istanbul. History HSBC Bank A.Ş. was established as Midland Bank A.Ş. in 1990. It was a subsidiary of Midland Bank and was the first British bank in ...

Specialized Ventures

is the non-banking financial services arm that focuses on credit card networking and consumer finance. * HSBC Insurance (Asia Pacific) is the

insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to protect ...

arm. *

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 ...

is the

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 ...

arm. *

HSBC Expat HSBC Expat, formerly HSBC International, is the offshore banking arm and wholly owned by HSBC based in Saint Helier, Jersey, Channel Islands. Operations HSBC Expat focuses on providing finance and cross border services to expatriates and migran ...

is the

offshore bank An offshore bank is a bank that is operated and regulated under international banking license (often called offshore license), which usually prohibits the bank from establishing any business activities in the jurisdiction of establishment. Due to ...

ing arm that focuses on providing finance and cross border services to

expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. The term often refers to a professional, skilled worker, or student from an affluent country. However, it may also refer to retirees, artists and ...

s and

migrants Migrant is a term that may refer to: Human migration *Human migration, including: **Emigration, leaving one's resident country with the intent to settle elsewhere. 1988 Webster's Definition. One who migrates, esp. from 1 region to another in sear ...

Spin-offs

HSBC ceased retail banking operations in

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

and

in 2012,

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

in 2013,

and Maldives in 2016,

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

in 2023, and New Zealand, Mauritius and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in 2024. HSBC sold its businesses in

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

, Honduras, Colombia, Peru, Uruguay, Paraguay and Hungary in 2012,

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

and Guatemala in 2013, Kazakhstan,

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

, Libya, Cook Islands and Cayman Islands in 2014,

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, ...

and

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

in 2016,

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

in 2023, and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

and

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

in 2024 HSBC ceased banking operations in Nicaragua in 2009,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

in 2011, Slovakia in 2012, and

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

in 2015. HSBC disposed of its 70.1% stake in the Dar Es Salaam Investment Bank, a bank based in

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

, in 2013.

transferred its operations in the

Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Northern Cyprus, officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a '' de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the island of Cyprus. It is recognised only by Turkey, and its territory is considered by all o ...

to ALBANK in 2017. HSBC entered Brunei in 1947 but commenced winding down its operations in April 2016 citing the bank's optimisation of its global network and reduced complexity. HSBC stopped offering Amanah (a retail banking product and service in compliance with the Islamic Shari'ah laws) in Bahrain, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Singapore and the UAE following a strategic review of its global Islamic Finance businesses, while the bank continues on offering the same Shari'ah compliant products and services in Malaysia and in Saudi Arabia.

Products

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 in November 2005 and is based on HSBC's '

First Direct First Direct (styled first direct) is a telephone and internet based direct retail bank, which is division of HSBC UK Bank plc based in the United Kingdom. First Direct has headquarters in Leeds, England, and has 1.9 million customers. It ...

' subsidiary in Britain which was launched in the 1980s. The service is now also available in Taiwan, South Korea, Australia, France. Poland is launching business direct in September 2009. In the US, HSBC Direct is now part of HSBC Advance.

HSBCnet

HSBCnet 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.

HSBC Advance

HSBC Advance is the group's product aimed at working professionals. The exact benefits and qualifications vary depending on country, but typically require a monthly direct deposit or maintain US$5,000 of deposit/investments or residential mortgage. Business owners may use commercial relationship to qualify. 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 Premier

HSBC Premier is the group's premium financial services product. It has its own portfolio of credit cards around the world. The exact benefits and qualification criteria vary depending on the country. 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 ("Premier in One, Premier in All").

HSBC Jade

HSBC Jade is an invite-only financial services product aimed at individuals with net worths typically between $1 million and $5 million in investible assets held with HSBC. Before invitation, members must be HSBC Premier members for a designated period of time. In addition to HSBC Premier benefits, HSBC Jade have select concierge services, estate planning services, and access to Jade Centres around the globe.

Controversies

HSBC has been implicated in a number of

controversies Controversy (, ) is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view. The word was coined from the Latin '' controversia'', as a composite of ''controversus'' – "turned in an opp ...

and the bank has been repeatedly fined for

(sometimes in relation to major criminal organizations such as the

Sinaloa cartel The Sinaloa Cartel (, , after the native Sinaloa region), also known as the ''CDS'', the ''Guzmán-Loera Organization'', the ''Federation'', the ''Sinaloa Cartel'', or the Pacific Cartel, is a large, drug trafficking transnational organized cri ...

)Gangster Bankers: Too Big to Jail, How HSBC hooked up with drug traffickers and terrorists. And got away with it
, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, Matt Taibbi, 14 February 2013. or setting up large scale

tax avoidance Tax avoidance is the legal usage of the tax regime in a single territory to one's own advantage to reduce the amount of tax that is payable. A tax shelter is one type of tax avoidance, and tax havens are jurisdictions that facilitate reduced taxe ...

schemes.

Money laundering

In both 2003 and 2010, U.S. regulators ordered HSBC to strengthen its anti-money laundering practices.HSBC: Too big to jail?
''CNNMoney'', James O'Toole, 12 December 2012. In October 2010, the United States OCC issued a

Cease and Desist Order A cease and desist letter is a document sent by one party, often a business, to warn another party that they believe the other party is committing an unlawful act, such as copyright infringement, and that they will take legal action if the other ...

requiring HSBC to strengthen multiple aspects of its Anti-Money Laundering (AML) program. The identified problems included a once massive backlog of over 17,000 alerts identifying suspicious activity, failure to file timely

suspicious activity report In financial regulation, a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) or Suspicious Transaction Report (STR) is a report made by a financial institution about suspicious or potentially suspicious activity as required under laws designed to counter money lau ...

s with U.S. law enforcement, failure to conduct any

due diligence Due diligence is the investigation or exercise of care that a reasonable business or person is normally expected to take before entering into an agreement or contract with another party or an act with a certain standard of care. Due diligence ...

to assess risks to HSBC affiliates before opening

correspondent account A correspondent account is an account (often called a nostro or vostro account) established by a banking institution to receive deposits from, make payments on behalf of, or handle other financial transactions for another financial institution. Cor ...

s for them, a three-year failure by HBUS from mid-2006 to mid-2009 to conduct any AML of $15 billion in bulk cash transactions from those same HSBC affiliates, failure to monitor $60 trillion in annual wire transfers by customers in countries rated lower risk by HBUS, and inadequate and unqualified AML staffing, resources, and leadership. It was noted that HSBC fully cooperated with the Senate investigation. In 2012, HSBC was fined by $14 million by Argentina for failure to report suspicious transactions in the country in 2008. On 19 July 2012, India investigated alleged violation of safety compliance, in which Indian employees were believed to be involved. On 9 November 2012, Indian activist and politician

Arvind Kejriwal Arvind Kejriwal (; born 16 August 1968) is an Indian politician, activist and former bureaucrat, who served as the 7th Chief Minister of Delhi. He was the chief minister from 2013 to 2014 and from 2015 to 2024. He is also the national conve ...

said he had details of 700 Indian bank accounts hiding black money with a total value of with HSBC in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

. In June 2013, a media outlet in India did an undercover expose where HSBC officers were caught on camera agreeing to launder "black money." HSBC placed these employees on leave pending their own internal investigation. In November 2012, it was reported that HSBC had set up offshore accounts in

Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

for suspected drug-dealers and other criminals, and that

HM Revenue and Customs His Majesty's Revenue and Customs (commonly HM Revenue and Customs, or HMRC, and formerly Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs) is a department of the UK government responsible for the collection of taxes, the payment of some forms of stat ...

had launched an investigation following a

whistle blower Whistleblowing (also whistle-blowing or whistle blowing) is the activity of a person, often an employee, revealing information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe, unethical or ...

leaking details of £700 million allegedly held in HSBC accounts in the Crown dependency. Following search warrants and raids beginning in January 2013, in mid-March 2013 Argentina's main taxing authority accused HSBC of using fake receipts and dummy accounts to facilitate money laundering and tax evasion. In early February 2013, appearing before UK's Parliamentary Banking Standards Commission, CEO Stuart Gulliver acknowledged that the structure of the bank had been "not fit for purpose." He also stated, "Matters that should have been shared and escalated were not shared and escalated."Terrorists and drug lords targeted HSBC, bosses admit
The Independent K Simon English, 6 February 2013. HSBC has also been accused of laundering money for terrorist groups. In June 2015, HSBC was fined by the Geneva authorities after an investigation into money laundering within its Swiss subsidiary. The fine was 40 million Swiss Francs. In 2018, HSBC was fined 15 million rand by South Africa's central bank for weaknesses in its processes meant to detect money laundering and terrorism financing, though it also added that HSBC was not found to have facilitated any transactions involving money laundering or the financing of terrorism in South Africa. In 2020, HSBC told AUSTRAC that it may have broken Australia's anti money laundering and counter-terrorism laws after allegedly failing to report thousands of transactions to AUSTRAC. In July 2021, HSBC disclosed that in 2016 it discovered a suspected money laundering network that received $4.2 billion worth of payments which has raised questions over whether it disclosed this appropriately to US monitors as the bank was still under probation by U.S. authorities over anti-money laundering concerns. In December 2021, HSBC was fined 64 million pounds ($85 million) by British regulators for failings in its anti-money laundering processes spanning eight years.

US Senate investigation (2012)

In July 2012, a US Senate committee issued a report which stated that HSBC had been in breach of money-laundering rules, and had assisted Iran and North Korea to circumvent US nuclear-weapons sanctions. In December 2012, Assistant U.S. Attorney General Lanny Breuer suggested that the U.S. government might resist criminal prosecution of HSBC which could lead to the loss of the bank's U.S. charter. He stated, "Our goal here is not to bring HSBC down, it's not to cause a systemic effect on the economy, it's not for people to lose thousands of jobs." In December 2012, HSBC was penalised $1.9 billion (US), the largest fine under the

Bank Secrecy Act The Bank Secrecy Act of 1970 (BSA), also known as the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act, is a U.S. law requiring financial institutions in the United States to assist U.S. government agencies in detecting and preventing money laun ...

, for violating four U.S. laws designed to protect the U.S. financial system. HSBC had allegedly laundered at least $881 million in drugs proceeds through the U.S. financial system for international cartels, as well as processing an additional $660 million for banks in US sanctioned countries. According to the report, "The U.S. bank subsidiary lsofailed to monitor more than $670 billion in wire transfers and more than $9.4 billion in purchases of physical dollars from its Mexico unit." As part of the agreement deferring its prosecution, HSBC acknowledged that for years it had ignored warning signs that drug cartels in Mexico were using its branches to launder millions of dollars, and also acknowledged that HSBC's international staff had stripped identifying information on transactions made through the United States from countries facing economic sanctions such as Iran and Sudan. A December 2012 ''

CNNMoney CNN Business (formerly CNN Money) is a financial news and information website, operated by CNN. The website was originally formed as a joint venture between CNN.com and Time Warner's '' Fortune'' and ''Money'' magazines. Since the spin-off of T ...

'' article compared the 1.9 billion dollar fine to HSBC's profit "last year" (2011) of 16.8 billion. In 2016, HSBC was sued by American families involved in deaths by organized-crime gangs for processing funds ("money laundering") for the Sinaloa cartel.

FinCEN Files (2020)

The

FinCEN Files The FinCEN Files are documents from the U.S. Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), that have been leaked to ''BuzzFeed News'' and then shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), and published ...

showed that HSBC continued to serve alleged criminals and corporations involved in government corruption, including $292 million for the Waked Family company Viva Panama between 2010 and 2016 before the

United States Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the Treasury, national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States. It is one of 15 current United States federal executive departments, U.S. government departments. ...

declared it a drug money-laundering organization. HSBC's activities took place while the bank was under probation from the U.S. government; six former HSBC employees reported to the

that the deferred prosecution agreement for HSBC marked a "cultural shift" in the organization toward profit-making motives. Employees working in compliance at HSBC also expressed concern to Buzzfeed about what they felt were inadequate efforts to combat money laundering, including hasty investigations and unachievable internal investigation quotas. In response to the report HSBC said it is "continually seeking ways to improve" its financial crime compliance regime.

Forex, Libor and Euribor scandals (2014)

The bank was fined US$275m by the US CFTC in 2014 for taking part in the

Forex scandal The forex scandal (also known as the forex probe) is a 2013 financial scandal that involves the revelation, and subsequent investigation, that banks colluded for at least a decade to manipulate exchange rates on the forex market for their own f ...

. The bank also settled for US$18m in the related

Libor scandal The Libor scandal was a series of fraudulent actions connected to the Libor (London Inter-bank Offered Rate) and also the resulting investigation and reaction. Libor is an average interest rate calculated through submissions of interest rates ...

and EUR 33m for the

Euribor The Euro Interbank Offered Rate (Euribor) is a daily reference rate, published by the European Money Markets Institute, based on the averaged interest rates at which Eurozone banks borrow unsecured funds from counterparties in the euro wholes ...

rate scandal (relative to other banks a small amount). In October 2020 HSBC was fined about $2.2 million over the

rate scandal in Switzerland.

Belgian tax fraud, money laundering charges (2014)

In November 2014, HSBC was accused of tax fraud and money laundering by Belgian Prosecutors for helping hundreds of clients move money into offshore tax havens. In August 2019, HSBC agreed to pay $336 million to settle the case.

Tax avoidance schemes (2015)

In February 2015, the

released information about the bank's business conduct under the title ''

''. The ICIJ alleges that the bank profited from doing business with tax evaders and other clients. The

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

reported that the bank had put pressure on media not to report about the controversy, with British newspaper ''

'' claiming bank advertising had been put "on pause" after ''The Guardian''s coverage of the matter.

Peter Oborne Peter Alan Oborne (; born 11 July 1957) is a British journalist and broadcaster. He is the former chief political commentator of ''The Daily Telegraph'', from which he resigned in early 2015. He is author of ''The Rise of Political Lying'' (2005 ...

, chief political commentator at ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'', resigned from the paper and in an open letter claimed the newspaper suppressed negative stories and dropped investigations into HSBC because of the bank's advertising. In November 2017,

HSBC HSBC Holdings plc ( zh, t_hk=滙豐; initialism from its founding member The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) is a British universal bank and financial services group headquartered in London, England, with historical and business li ...

agreed to pay $352 million to settle a French investigation into the case. In August 2019, the former head of HSBC Swiss from 2000 to 2008, Peter Braunwalder pleaded guilty in a French court for helping wealthy clients hide $1.8 billion. He was fined $560,000 and received a one-year suspended jail sentence. In December 2019, HSBC Swiss agreed to pay a $192 million United States fine for the case.

$3.5 billion currency scheme (2016)

In July 2016, the

charged two executives from HSBC Bank over an alleged $3.5 billion currency scheme which

defraud In law, fraud is intent (law), intentional deception to deprive a victim of a legal right or to gain from a victim unlawfully or unfairly. Fraud can violate Civil law (common law), civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrato ...

ed HSBC clients and "manipulated the foreign exchange market to benefit themselves and their bank". "Mark Johnson and Stuart Scott, both British citizens, are being accused." "Johnson was arrested late Tuesday 9 July 2016at JFK International Airport in New York City." "Stuart Scott, who was HSBC's European head of foreign exchange trading in London until December 2014, is accused of the same crimes." A warrant was issued for Scott's arrest, but he fled to Britain. In July 2018 the

High Court of Justice The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal (England and Wales), Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Courts of England and Wales, Senior Cour ...

ruled against extraditing him to the United States since most of the alleged crimes took place in Britain and because Scott has no significant connection to the United States. Mark Johnson was later convicted of nine counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to defraud related to front running the currency trades of HSBC clients and sentenced to two years in federal prison. He was released after serving three months in prison and was allowed to return home to the U.K. while he pursued an appeal. November 2020 the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of his 2017 conviction, which was previously upheld by the

United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (in case citations, 2d Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. Its territory covers the states of Connecticut, New York (state), New York, and Vermont, and it has ap ...

. It meant he would have to return to the U.S. to serve his sentence. In February 2021 a judge ruled that Johnson would not need to report to prison until he is vaccinated against COVID-19. In January 2018 HSBC agreed to pay a $101.5 million fine over the case.

Defense industry (2018)

In December 2018, ''

The Jerusalem Post ''The Jerusalem Post'' is an English language, English-language Israeli broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, Israel, founded in 1932 during the Mandate for Palestine, British Mandate of Mandatory Palestine, Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''Th ...

'' reported that HSBC confirmed that the bank would divest from Elbit Systems Ltd., Israel's largest non-government-owned military contractor, active in numerous defence-related industries. HSBC justified its decision by claiming it "strongly supports observance of international human rights principles as they apply to business." In response, the group Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) released a press release in which it "declared a victory" and quoted PSC director Ben Jamal saying the decision demonstrates "the effectiveness of

Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) is a nonviolent Palestinian-led movement promoting boycotts, divestments, and economic sanctions against Israel. Its objective is to pressure Israel to meet what the BDS movement describes as Israel's o ...

as a tactic." JewishPress.com reported that multiple sources claimed HSBC's decision was not influenced by the BDS movement but was an "investment decision." In an editorial titled "Bad Banking", ''The Jerusalem Post'' wrote, "HSBC, if this is your final decision, you will go down on the wrong side of history. Do you understand that Israel is using Elbit technology to protect itself against Palestinian terror, and not to undermine the rights of the Palestinian people? If you are really concerned about human rights, perhaps you might consider using some of your own income to invest in the Palestinian economy, and boost cooperation between Israeli and Palestinian institutions."

Housing crisis fine (2018)

In 2018, HSBC agreed to pay a $765 million fine to settle claims it mis-sold

Residential mortgage-backed securities Residential mortgage-backed security (RMBS) are a type of mortgage-backed security backed by residential real estate mortgages. Bonds securitizing mortgages are usually treated as a separate class, making reference to the general package of fina ...

between 2005 and 2007. Forbes noted the settlement was the lowest of 11 banks that settled with the Department of Justice. HSBC has said in a statement that it has been improving relevant control mechanisms since the financial crisis.

Support for China's Security Law for Hong Kong (2020)

In June 2020, on the eve of the anniversary of the

Tiananmen Square protests The Tiananmen Square protests, known within China as the June Fourth Incident, were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, lasting from 15 April to 4 June 1989. After weeks of unsuccessful attempts between th ...

, HSBC took the rare step of wading into political issues by publicly backing Beijing's controversial new national security law for

. The chief executive for HSBC's Asia-Pacific division, Peter Wong, signed a petition supporting the law and stated in a post on Chinese social media that HSBC "respects and supports all laws that stabilise Hong Kong's social order." Though HSBC moved its headquarters to London in 1993, Hong Kong remains its largest market accounting for 54% of its profit, a third of its global revenue, and 50,000 local staff. In response,

Joshua Wong Joshua Wong Chi-fung (; born 13 October 1996) is a Hong Kong Pro-democracy camp (Hong Kong), pro-democracy activist and politician. He served as secretary-general of the pro-democracy party Demosisto, Demosistō until it disbanded following i ...

, a top Hong Kong pro-democracy activist decried the bank's position stating that HSBC's stance demonstrates "how China will use the national security law as new leverage for more political influence over foreign business community in this global city."

Alistair Carmichael Alexander Morrison "Alistair" CarmichaelFull name is given as "CARMICHAEL, Alexander Morrison, commonly known as Alistair Carmichael" in the returning officer'2010 general election declaration (born 15 July 1965) is a British politician who has ...

, the U.K. chairman of the All Parliamentary Group on Hong Kong, said HSBC made a serious error by bending to China's will regarding the security law, calling it "a colossal misjudgment" since it would be seen as a large British corporation advocating for "a fairly flagrant breach of international law" when banks rely on a rules-based system.

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

alleged that "the new national security law will deal the most severe blow to the rights of people in Hong Kong since the territory's transfer to China in 1997." British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab also commented on HSBC's stance, saying "Businesses will make their own judgment calls, but let me just put it this way – we will not sacrifice the people of Hong Kong over the altar of banker bonuses". Since August 2020, HSBC has frozen the accounts of numerous pro-democratic organizations and activists, and their families, including Jimmy Lai, Ted Hui and the Good Neighbour North District Church. In January 2021, the CEO of HSBC defended its relationship with Chinese authorities in Hong Kong and freezing of Ted Hui's account to the United Kingdom's parliamentary foreign affairs committee. In February 2021, more than 50 members of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China called for the immediate unfreezing of funds belonging to Ted Hui and his family, In 2023 an All-party parliamentary group released a report regarding the actions of the bank's operations in Hong Kong. The report found that HSBC was complicit in human rights abuses by bank's cutting off the pension plan after the Hong Kong authority cut off pension funding for those that fled the anti-democratic crackdown on the region. The group was chaired by

who stated that the bank has been "complicit in the repression of the human rights of innocent Hong Kongers".

Sterling Lads (2021)

EU antitrust regulators fined HSBC 174.3 million euros for foreign exchange market rigging by exchanging sensitive information and trading plans through an online chat room dubbed "Sterling Lads".

Other

Data loss (2008)

In 2008, HSBC issued a statement confirming it had lost a disc containing details of 370,000 customers of its life insurance business. HSBC said the disc had failed to arrive in the post between offices and it was not encrypted. The bank was later fined over £3 million by the Financial Services Authority for failing to exercise reasonable care with regards to data protection in connection with this and other lost customer information.

Breaching Iran sanctions for Huawei (2009–2014)

From 2009 to 2014, in breach of United States sanctions on Iran, the bank facilitated money transfers in Iran on behalf of the Chinese company Huawei.

Gaddafi Libya claims (2011)

According to Global Witness and cited by BBC, "billions of dollars of assets" were held by the bank for the Libyan Investment Authority, controlled by Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. Following Gaddafi's overthrow the bank declined to reveal information about the funds citing customer confidentiality.

Deforestation claims (2012, 2018)

In the report titled "In the Future There Will Be No Forests Left" produced by Global Witness, the bank was accused of supporting the seven largest Malaysian timber conglomerates, which are responsible for deforestation in the Malaysian state of Sarawak. The bank declined to divulge its clients, citing client confidentiality, but maintains that the accusations are not accurate. The environmentalist group Greenpeace has also alleged that the bank is contributing to the deforestation in Indonesia and subsequent hazardous impacts in the region by providing funds to palm oil producers for new plantations. The bank has denied these claims, citing its sustainability policy that prohibits the bank from financing projects that "damage high conservation value forest."

Money-laundering policies (2014)

The bank was reported to have refused large cash withdrawals for customers without a third-party letter confirming what the money would be used for. Douglas Carswell, the Conservative MP for Clacton, was alarmed by the policy: "All these regulations which have been imposed on banks allow enormous interpretation. It basically infantilises the customer. In a sense, your money becomes pocket money and the bank becomes your parent."

Payments-processing failures (2015)

In August 2015, the bank failed to process BACS payments resulting in thousands of salaries not paid, house purchase and payment for essential home care failures.

Spam phone calls (2020)

In January 2020, HSBC agreed to pay a $2.4 million settlement for a lawsuit filed in 2015 by customers who stated they received spam phone calls from the company.

Racism report (2021)

HSBC banker Ian Clarke alleged a failure of HSBC to retain or promote black and other ethnic minority staff, a lack of such people in senior positions, and insufficient policies to address these problems. HSBC did not address the specifics of Clarke's assertions and he resigned shortly thereafter.

Climate change (2022)

Stuart Kirk, the bank's global head of responsible investing, was suspended in May due to his speech in which he said "There's always some nut job telling me about the end of the world." He quit his position in July, criticising the "cancel culture" in his Linkedin post, and blaming it for his suspension and resignation. In October, the company had its two advertisements banned due to being misleading about the company's activities for reducing the effects of climate change. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), who was behind the ban, stated that the posters omitted material information about how HSBC planned to tackle the climate change and reduce its impact.

Logo

The group announced in November 1998 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. 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 (sandglass), 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 Saltire, cross of Saint Andrew. The logo was designed by Austrian graphic artist Henry Steiner. In 2018, HSBC made minor changes to their logo. The wordmark was repositioned from left to the right, resized to be smaller, and was switched from Serif to a licensed custom font called Univers Next for HSBC. The logo red was made slightly darker red.

Sponsorships

Having sponsored the Jaguar Racing Formula One team since the days of Stewart Grand Prix, HSBC ended its relationship with motorsport after seven years when Red Bull purchased Jaguar Racing from Ford Motor Company, Ford. In the mid-2000s, HSBC switched its focus to golf, taking title sponsorship of several events such as the HSBC World Match Play Championship, HSBC Women's World Match Play Championship (now defunct), WGC-HSBC Champions, Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, HSBC Women's Champions, HSBC Golf Business Forum and HSBC Golf Roots (a youth development programme). HSBC was named the 'Official Banking Partner' of the Open Championship, in a five-year deal announced in 2010. In October 2010, the International Rugby Board announced that they had concluded a 5-year deal with HSBC which granted them status as the first-ever title sponsor of the World Sevens Series. Through the accord, HSBC is paying more than $100 million for the title naming rights to all the tournaments. HSBC opted to sub-license the naming rights to all but one of the individual tournaments while retaining its name sponsorship of the overall series and the Hong Kong Sevens. The company also sponsors the Hong Kong Rugby Union and the New South Wales Waratahs team in Super Rugby. It sponsored British & Irish Lions during their 2009 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa, 2009 tour to South Africa and 2013 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia, 2013 tour to Australia. HSBC is the official banking partner of the Wimbledon Championships tennis tournament, providing banking facilities on site and renaming the junior event as the HSBC Road to Wimbledon National 14 and Under Challenge. 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's Villages UK, SOS Children as part of Future First. In 2022, it was announced that Zhou Guanyu, the first Chinese F1 driver in history who made his debut a few months earlier, became an ambassador for the Chinese subsidiary of HSBC. From 1999 until 2011, HSBC's American division was the venue sponsor for the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League (NHL), known as the HSBC Arena, which was renamed to FirstNiagara Center in 2011 after its divesture of its upstate New York bank branches to Buffalo-based First Niagara Bank before becoming KeyBank Center in 2016 following KeyBank's merger with First Niagara.

Ownership

Around 44% of HSBC shares are held by the general public and around 56% are held by institutions. The largest shareholders in early 2024 were: * BlackRock (8.9%) * Ping An Insurance, Ping An Asset Management (8.82%) * The Vanguard Group (4.75%) * Norges Bank (2.87%) * Legal & General (1.89%) * State Street Global Advisors (1.66%) * HSBC Asset Management (1.12%) * UBS, UBS Asset Management AG (1.05%) * HSBC Holdings General Employee Benefit Trust (0.9%) * Schroder Investment Management (0.71%) * Northern Trust Global Investments (0.68%) * Aviva Investors (0.64%) * Royal London Asset Management (0.61%) * Amundi (0.54%) * Abrdn Plc (0.53%)

Leadership

* Group Chairman: Mark Tucker (business), Sir Mark Tucker (October 2017 to present)HSBC Leadership (Board of Directors) * Group Chief Executive:

(September 2024 to present)

List of former group chairmen

The position of Group Chairman was formed in 1991; the preceding position, Chairman of HSBC (Hong Kong), The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, has remained a separate position. # William Purves (banker), Sir William Purves (1991–1998); concurrently Group Chief Executive from 1991 to 1993 # John Bond (banker), Sir John Bond (1998–2006) # Stephen Green, Baron Green of Hurstpierpoint, The Lord Green (2006–2010) # Douglas Flint, Sir Douglas Flint (2010–2017)

List of former group chief executives

The position of Group Chief Executive was formed in 1991; the preceding position, chief executive of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, has remained a separate position. # William Purves (banker), William Purves (1991–1993) # John Bond (banker), John Bond (1993–1998) # Keith Whitson (1998–2003) # Stephen Green (2003–2006) #

(2007–2010) #

(2011–2018) # John Flint (businessman), John Flint (2018–2019) # Noel Quinn (2020–2024)

References

External links

* * {{Authority control HSBC, 1865 establishments in Hong Kong 1999 initial public offerings Banks established in 1865 Companies based in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange Companies listed on the London Stock Exchange Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange Companies in the FTSE 100 Index Companies in the Dow Jones Global Titans 50 Systemically important financial institutions Holding companies of the United Kingdom Holding companies established in 1991 Investment banks Primary dealers Banks of the United Kingdom Cross-listed companies Asset management companies