You are on page 1of 21

HSBC

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search HSBC Holdings plc

Type Traded as Industry Founded Founder(s) Headquarters Number of locations Area served Key people Products

Holding Company[1][2] Public Company LSE: HSBA SEHK: 0005 NYSE: HBC Banking, Financial services 1865[3] (The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) 1991[4] (HSBC Holdings plc) Thomas Sutherland London, United Kingdom Approximately 7,200 offices across 85 countries & territories[5] Worldwide Douglas Flint
(Group Chairman)

Stuart Gulliver
(Group Chief Executive)

Services Revenue Operating income Profit Total assets Total equity Employees Subsidiaries

Credit cards Mortgage loans Consumer banking Corporate banking Investment banking Private banking Wealth management US$ 75.60 billion (2012)[6] US$ 20.64 billion (2012)[6] US$ 14.02 billion (2012)[6] US$ 2.692 trillion (2012)[6] US$ 175.2 billion (2012)[6] 260,591 (2012)[6] HSBC Bank plc The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation HSBC GLT India

Website

HSBC Bank USA HSBC Bank Middle East HSBC Mexico HSBC Bank Brazil HSBC Finance www.hsbc.com

HSBC Holdings plc is a British multinational banking and financial services organisation headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It was founded in London in 1991 by The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation to act as a new group holding company[1][2] The origins of the bank lie in Hong Kong and Shanghai, where branches were first opened in 1865.[3] The HSBC name is derived from the initials of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited.
[4]

It has around 7,200 offices in 85 countries and territories across Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and South America, and around 89 million customers.[5] As of 31 December 2012 it had total assets of $2.693 trillion, of which roughly half were in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and a quarter each in Asia-Pacific and the Americas.[6] As of 2012, it was the world's largest bank in terms of assets and sixth-largest public company, according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine.[7] HSBC is organised within four business groups: Commercial Banking; Global Banking and Markets (investment banking); Retail Banking and Wealth Management; and Global Private Banking.[8] HSBC has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. As of 6 July 2012 it had a market capitalisation of 102.7 billion, the second-largest company listed on the London Stock Exchange, after Royal Dutch Shell.[9] It has secondary listings on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (where it is a constituent of the Hang Seng Index), the New York Stock Exchange, Euronext Paris and the Bermuda Stock Exchange.

Contents

1 History o 1.1 Origins to 2000


o o

1.2 2000 to 2010 1.3 2010 to present

2 Operations
o o

2.1 Principal subsidiaries 2.2 Principal business groups and divisions

3 Global product lines

o o o o

3.1 HSBC Direct 3.2 HSBCnet 3.3 HSBC Advance 3.4 HSBC Premier

4 Logo 5 Sponsorships 6 Controversies


o

6.1 Money laundering

7 See also 8 References 9 External links

History
Origins to 2000
For more information on the history of HSBC prior to the founding of HSBC Holdings in 1991, see The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation.

The HSBC Building in Shanghai, the headquarters of the Shanghai branch of The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation from 1923 to 1955 The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation was founded by Scotsman Sir Thomas Sutherland in the then British colony of Hong Kong on 3 March 1865, and in Shanghai one month later. In 1980, HSBC acquired a 51% shareholding in US-based Marine Midland Bank, which it extended to full ownership in 1987. HSBC Holdings plc was established in the United Kingdom in 1991 as the parent company to The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation in preparation for its purchase of the UKbased Midland Bank 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, HSBC Holdings plc was required to relocate its world headquarters from Hong Kong to London in 1993. Major acquisitions in South America started with the purchase of the Banco Bamerindus of Brazil for $1bn in March 1997[10] and the acquisition of Roberts SA de Inversiones of Argentina for $600m in May 1997.[11] In May 1999, HSBC expanded its presence in the United States with the purchase of Republic National Bank of New York for $10.3bn.[12]

2000 to 2010

The HSBC Main Building in Hong Kong, which was designed by Norman Foster and completed in 1985 Expansion into Continental Europe took place in April 2000 with the acquisition of Crdit Commercial de France, a large French bank for 6.6bn.[13] In July 2001 HSBC bought Demirbank, an insolvent Turkish bank.[14] In July 2002, Arthur Andersen announced that HSBC USA, Inc., through a new subsidiary, Wealth and Tax Advisory Services USA Inc. (WTAS), would purchase a portion of Andersen's tax practice. The new HSBC Private Client Services Group would serve the wealth and tax advisory needs of high net worth individuals. Then in August 2002 HSBC acquired Grupo Financiero Bital, SA de CV, Mexico's third largest retail bank for $1.1bn.[15] In November 2002 HSBC expanded further in the United States. Under the chairmanship of Sir John Bond, it spent 9 billion (US$15.5 billion) to acquire Household Finance Corporation (HFC), a US credit card issuer and subprime lender.[16] In a 2003 cover story, The Banker noted "when banking historians look back, they may conclude that [it] was the deal of the first decade of the 21st century".[17] Under the new name of HSBC Finance, the division was the second largest subprime lender in the US.[18]

The new headquarters of HSBC Holdings at 8 Canada Square, London officially opened in April 2003.[19] In September 2003 HSBC bought Polski Kredyt Bank SA of Poland for $7.8m.[20] In June 2004 HSBC expanded into China buying 19.9% of the Bank of Communications of Shanghai.[21] In the United Kingdom HSBC acquired Marks & Spencer Retail Financial Services Holdings Ltd for 763m in December 2004.[22] Acquisitions in 2005 included Metris Inc, a US credit card issuer for $1.6bn in August[23] and 70.1% of Dar es Salaam Investment Bank of Iraq in October.[24] In April 2006 HSBC bought the 90 branches in Argentina of Banca Nazionale del Lavoro for $155m.[25] In December 2007 HSBC acquired The Chinese Bank in Taiwan.[26] In May 2008 HSBC acquired IL&FS Investment, an Indian retail broking firm.[27] In 2005 Bloomberg Markets magazine accused HSBC of money-laundering for drug dealers and state sponsors of terrorism. Then-CEO Stephen Green said that This was a singular and wholly irresponsible attack on the banks international compliance procedures. but subsequent investigation indicated that it was accurate.[28] U.S. Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer characterised HSBC compliance during this period as "stunning failures of oversight and worse ... The record of dysfunction that prevailed at HSBC for many years was astonishing."[29] In March 2009, HSBC announced that it would shut down the branch network of its HSBC Finance arm in the U.S., leading to nearly 6,000 job losses and leaving only the credit card business to continue operating.[30][31] 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."[32] According to analyst Colin Morton, "the takeover was an absolute disaster".[31][33] Although it was at the centre of the subprime storm, the wider group has weathered the financial crisis of 20072010 better than other global banks. According to Bloomberg, "HSBC is one of worlds strongest banks by some measures".[34] When HM Treasury required all UK banks to increase their capital in October 2007, the group transferred 750 million to London within hours, and announced that it had just lent 4 billion to other UK banks.[35] In March 2009, it announced that it had made US$9.3bn of profit in 2008 and announced a 12.5bn (US$17.7bn; HK$138bn) rights issue to enable it to buy other banks that were struggling to survive.[36] 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.[37]

2010 to present

8 Canada Square, the world headquarters of HSBC in Canary Wharf, London On 11 May 2011 the new chief executive Stuart Gulliver announced that 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 spiralling and US$3.5bn 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 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.[38][39] HSBC's board of directors had reportedly been split over the succession planning, and investors were alarmed that this row would damage the company.[40] On 23 September 2010, Geoghegan announced he would step down as chief executive of HSBC. [41] He was succeeded as chief executive of HSBC by Stuart Gulliver, while Green was succeeded as Chairman by Douglas Flint; Flint was serving as HSBC's finance director (chief financial officer). August 2011: Further to CEO Stuart Gulliver's plan to cut $3.5 billion in costs over the next 2 years, HSBC announced that it will cut 25,000 jobs and exit from 20 countries by 2013 in addition to 5,000 job- cuts announced earlier in the year. The consumer banking division of HSBC will focus on the UK, Hong Kong, high-growth markets such as Mexico, Singapore, Turkey and Brazil, and smaller countries where it has a leading market share.[42][43] 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."[44][45] 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 and Connecticut to First Niagara Financial Group Inc for around $1 billion and announced the closure of 13 branches in Connecticut and New Jersey. The rest of HSBC's U.S. network will only be about half from a total 470 branches before divestments.[46] On 9 August 2011, Capital One Financial Corp. agreed to acquire HSBC's U.S. credit card business for $2.6 billion,[47]

netting HSBC Holdings an estimated after-tax profit of $2.4 billion.[48] In September it was announced that HSBC seeks to sell its general insurance business for around $1 billion. In 2012, HSBC was the subject of hearings of the U.S. Senate permanent subcommittee for investigations for severe deficiencies in its anti money laundering practices. On 16 July the committee presented its findings.[49][50] Among other things it concludes that HSBC has been transferring $7 billion in banknotes from its Mexican to its US subsidiary, much of it drugs related, was disregarding terrorist financing links and was actively circumventing U.S. safeguards to block transactions involving terrorists, drug lords, and rogue regimes, including hiding $19.4 billion in transactions with Iran. In July 2012 HSBC came under investigation for allegedly assisting in the money laundering of terrorist money, after 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".[51][52] On 11 December 2012, HSBC agreed to pay a record $1.92 billion fine in this money laundering case. "Bank officials repeatedly ignored internal warnings that HSBC's monitoring systems were inadequate, the Justice Department said. In 2008, for example, the CEO of HSBC Mexico was told that Mexican law enforcement had a recording of a Mexican drug lord saying that HSBC Mexico was the place to launder money."[53] The DOJ, however, decided not to pursue criminal penalties, a decision which the New York Times labelled a "dark day for the rule of law."[54] "We accept responsibility for our past mistakes. We have said we are profoundly sorry for them, and we do so again." HSBC Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver said.[53]

Operations

A map showing the countries of the world in which HSBC currently has operations HSBC has its world headquarters at 8 Canada Square in Canary Wharf, London.[55] HSBC has a significant presence in each of the world's major financial markets, with the Americas, Asia Pacific and Europe each representing around one third of its business. HSBC is the largest bank in Hong Kong and prints most of Hong Kong's local currency in its own name. As of 2 April 2008, according to Forbes magazine, HSBC was the fourth-largest bank in the world by assets (with $2,348.98 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's $3.62 billion and Bank of America's $14.98 billion in the same period).[56] Since the end of 2005, HSBC has been rated the largest banking group in the world by Tier 1 capital.[57] In February 2008, HSBC was named the world's most valuable banking brand by The Banker magazine.[58][59] HSBC is known for a conservative and risk-averse approach to business a company tradition going back to the 19th century.[60] This reputation has been brought into question in the 21st century. In its technical management, however, HSBC has recently suffered a series of headline-making incidents in which some customer data were allegedly leaked or simply went missing. Although the consequences turned out to be small, the embarrassing effect on the group's image did not go unnoticed.[61] HSBC is currently audited by one of the Big Four auditors, KPMG. The HSBC and KPMG headquarters are adjacent to one another, with KPMG occupying 15 Canada Square.[62] HSBC Main Building, Hong Kong is also adjacent to KPMG office located in Prince's Building.

Principal subsidiaries

The HSBC building in Manila, Philippines Asia Pacific


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

Europe

HSBC Bank Armenia

HSBC France HSBC Trinkaus und Burkhardt AG HSBC Bank A.. HSBC Bank International the offshore banking arm of the HSBC Group, focusing on providing offshore solutions and cross border services to expatriates and migrants.[63] It provides a full range of multi-currency personal banking services to a range of customer segments, including a full internet banking and telephone banking service. Sometimes referred to as "HSBC Offshore", the business also offers independent financial planning, and has representative offices all over the world, often working alongside local HSBC operations in those regions. HSBC Bank International originated from the business started by Midland Bank and is based in the Channel Islands with further operations on the Isle of Man. Its operations in the Channel Islands are centred around its headquarters on the seafront in St Helier, Jersey. HSBC Bank Malta plc HSBC Private Bank (UK) Ltd HSBC Bank plc

America

The headquarters of HSBC Brazil in Curitiba HSBC Bank Argentina SA HSBC Bank Brazil SA

HSBC Bank Chile HSBC Bank Colombia SA HSBC Mexico SA HSBC El Salvador HSBC Per HSBC Uruguay

HSBC Bank Canada HSBC Bank USA Inc HSBC Finance Corporation

Middle East and North Africa


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

Principal business groups and divisions


HSBC organises its customer-facing activities within four business groups: Commercial Banking; Global Banking and Markets (investment banking); Personal Financial Services (retail banking and consumer finance); and Global Private Banking.[8] Commercial Banking HSBC provides financial services to small, medium-sized and middle-market enterprises. The group has more than 3 million of such customers, including sole proprietors, partnerships, clubs and associations, incorporated businesses and publicly quoted companies. Global Banking & Markets Global Banking and Markets is the investment banking arm of HSBC. It provides investment banking and financing solutions for corporate and institutional clients, including corporate banking, investment banking, capital markets, trade services, payments and cash management, and leveraged acquisition finance. It provides services in equities, credit and rates, foreign exchange, money markets and securities services, in addition to asset management services. Global Banking and Markets has offices in more than 60 countries and territories worldwide, and describes itself as "emerging markets-led and financing-focused".[64] Global Banking and Markets is currently being led by former fixed-income trader Samir Assaf, who was promoted from global head of markets on 10 December 2010.[65] Global Private Banking Main article: HSBC Private Bank

The main London office of HSBC Private Bank in St James's HSBC Private Bank is the marketing name for the private banking business conducted by the principal private banking subsidiaries of the HSBC Group worldwide. HSBC Private Bank, together with the private banking activities of HSBC Trinkaus, known collectively as Group Private Banking, provides services to high net worth individuals and their families through 93 locations in some 42 countries and territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa. As of December 2007, profits before tax were US$1,511 million and combined client assets under management were US$494 billion. In September 2008, HSBC announced that it would combine its two Swiss private banks under one brand name in 2009, with HSBC Guyerzeller and HSBC Private Bank to be merged into one legal entity, under the newly appointed CEO of HSBC Private Bank, Alexandre Zeller.[66] Retail Banking and Wealth Management HSBC provides more than 100 million customers worldwide with a full range of personal financial services, including current and savings accounts, mortgage loans, car financing, insurance, credit cards, loans, pensions and investments. Retail Banking and Wealth Management was previously referred to as Personal Financial Services. This rename was announced during HSBC's 2011 Investor Day.[67] Group Service Centres As a cost-saving measure HSBC is offshoring processing work to lower cost economies in order to reduce the cost of providing services in developed countries. These locations take on work such as data processing and customer service, but also internal software engineering at Pune (India), Bangalore (India), Hyderabad (India), Vishakhapatnam (India), Kolkata (India), Guangzhou (China), Curitiba (Brazil) and Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia).

The HSBC Global Technology Centre in Pune, India[68] Chief Operating Officer Alan Jebson said in March 2005 that he would be very surprised if fewer than 25,000 people were working in the centres over the next three years: I dont have a precise target but I would be surprised if we had less than 15 (global service centres) in three years time. He went on to say that each centre cost the bank from $20m to $30m to set up, but that for every job moved the bank saves about $20,000 (10,400).[69] Trade unions, particularly in the US and UK, blame these centres for job losses in developed countries, and also for the effective imposition of wage caps on their members.[69] Currently, HSBC operates centres out of eight countries, including Brazil (Curitiba), The Czech Republic (Ostrava), India (Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Visakhapatnam, Mumbai, Gurgaon and Pune), China (Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen), Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur), Poland (Krakow), Sri Lanka (Rajagiriya) and Philippines (Manila). The Malta trial for a UK high value call centre has resulted in a growing operation that country. An option under consideration is reported to be a processing centre in Vietnam to access the French skills of the population and therefore cut costs in the banks French operations.

Global product lines


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[70] in November 2005 and is based on HSBC's 'First Direct' subsidiary in Britain which was launched in the 1980s. The service is now also available in Canada,[71] Taiwan,[72] South Korea,[73] France, and India.[74] Poland is launching business direct in September 2009. In the US, HSBC Direct is now part of HSBC Advance[75]

HSBCnet
HSBCnet[76] is a global service that caters to local business needs by offering specialised functionality for different regions worldwide.

The system provides access to transaction banking functionality ranging from payments and cash management to trade services features as well as to research and analytical content from HSBC. It also includes foreign exchange and money markets trading functionality. The system is used widely by HSBC's high-end corporate and institutional clients served variously by the bank's global banking and markets, commercial banking and global transaction banking divisions. HSBCnet is also the brand under which HSBC markets its global e-commerce proposition to its corporate and institutional clients.

HSBC Advance
HSBC Advance[77] is the group's product aimed at working professionals. The exact benefits and qualifications vary depending on country, but typically require a transfer of Salary of USD 1,500 or more every month or Maintain USD 25,000 of deposits in a Savings/Current Account or investments. Advantages may vary depending on country, such as day-to-day banking services including but not limited to a Platinum Credit Card, Advance ATM Card, Current Account and Savings Account. Protection plans and Financial Planning Services. A HSBC Advance customer enables the customer to open accounts in another country and transfer their credit history.

HSBC Premier
HSBC Premier[78] is the group's premium financial services product, comparable to the Centurion service of American Express. The exact benefits and qualification criteria vary depending on 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.

Logo
The group announced in November 1999 that the HSBC brand and the hexagon symbol would be adopted as the unified brand in all the markets where HSBC operates, with the aim of enhancing recognition of the group and its values by customers, shareholders and staff throughout the world. The hexagon symbol was originally adopted by The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation as its logo in 1983. It was developed from the banks house flag, a white rectangle divided diagonally to produce a red hourglass shape. Like many other Hong Kong company flags that originated in the 19th century, and because of its founder's nationality, the design was based on the cross of Saint Andrew. The logo was designed by graphic artist Henry Steiner.[79]

Sponsorships

The 2004 Jaguar Racing Formula One car, being driven by Mark Webber Having sponsored the Jaguar Racing Formula One team since the days of Stewart Grand Prix, HSBC ended its relationship with the sport when Red Bull purchased Jaguar Racing from Ford. HSBC has now switched its focus to golf, taking title sponsorship of events such as the HSBC World Match Play Championship, HSBC Women's World Match Play Championship (now defunct), HSBC Champions and HSBC Women's Champions. In football HSBC sponsors French club AS Monaco and Mexican club C.F. Pachuca, and in rugby league, HSBC sponsors Telford Raiders in the Rugby League Conference. In Australia, HSBC sponsors the New South Wales Waratahs rugby team in Super Rugby rugby union competition, as well as the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League. HSBCs other sponsorships are mainly in the area of education, health and the environment. In November 2006, HSBC announced a $5 million partnership with SOS Children as part of Future First.[80] HSBC sponsors the Great Canadian Geography Challenge, which has had around 2 million participants in the past 12 years. Since 2001, HSBC has sponsored the Celebration of Light, an annual musical fireworks competition in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. In 2007 HSBC announced it would be a sponsor of the National Hockey League's Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames. HSBC has also sponsored a professional gaming team that was disbanded late 2007. HSBC is also committed to local sponsorships, the Mandarins Cricket Club being one example. HSBC sponsored the 2009 British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa.[81] HSBC is the official banking partner of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships, providing banking facilities on site and renaming the Road to Wimbledon junior event, as The HSBC Road to Wimbledon National 14 and Under Challenge.[82] HSBC was named the 'Official Banking Partner' of The Open Championship, in a five-year deal announced in 2010.[83]

Controversies
On 19 July 2012, India assured to get to the bottom of alleged violation of safety compliance, in which Indian employees are presumed to be involved.[84] On 9 November 2012, Indian activist

and politician Arvind Kejriwal claimed he had details of 700 Indian bank accounts hiding black money with a total value of 6000 crore(s) (US$1.1 billion) with HSBC in Geneva.[85] In the report titled "In the Future There Will Be No Forests Left" produced by Global Witness, the bank is also being accused of supporting the seven largest Malaysian timber conglomerates which are responsible for rapid deforestation in the Malaysian state of Sarawak without any FSC certifications.[86] However, the bank declined to divulge its clients on this issue, citing the confidentiality of its clients; but the bank maintains that the accusations that its clients violate forestland and forest-products policy is not accurate.[87]

Money laundering
In 2003, U.S. regulators ordered HSBC to strengthen its anti-money laundering practices, and again so ordered in 2010 after finding the bank had continued to ignore suspicious transactions.
[88]

In October 2010, the United States OCC issued a Cease and Desist Order 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 reports with U.S. law enforcement, failure to conduct any due diligence to assess risks to HSBC affiliates before opening correspondent accounts 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, poor procedures for assigning country and client risk, 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. [89] In November 2012 it was reported that HSBC had set up offshore accounts in Jersey for suspected drug-dealers and other criminals, and that HM Revenue and Customs had launched an investigation following a whistleblower leaking details of 700 million allegedly held in HSBC accounts in the Crown dependency .[90] In December 2012, HSBC was penalized $1.9 billion (US), the largest fine under the Bank Secrecy Act, for violating four U.S. laws designed to protect the U.S. financial system.[91] 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 [also] failed to monitor more than $670 billion in wire transfers and more than $9.4 billion in purchases of physical dollars from its Mexico unit."[91] 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.[88] HSBC has also been accused of laundering money for terrorist groups.[92][93]

In early Feb. 2013, appearing before UKs Parliamentary Banking Standards Commission, chief executive 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.[92] A Feb. 2013 article in Rolling Stone magazine, which was critical of what they regarded as the timid response by the U.S. Justice Department, stated Yes, they issued a fine $1.9 billion, or about five weeks' profit but they didn't extract so much as one dollar or one day in jail from any individual, despite a decade of stupefying abuses and further stated, In this case, the bank literally got away with murder well, aiding and abetting it, anyway.[94] A Dec. 2012 CNNMoney article compared the 1.9 billion dollar fine to HSBC's profit "last year" (2011) of 16.8 billion.[88] 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."[88] 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.[95][96][97]

See also
London portal Companies portal

HSBC Buildings List of banks in the United Kingdom List of buildings and structures in Hong Kong Primary dealers List of investors in Bernard L. Madoff Securities Peking University HSBC Business School

References
^ a b "Company History of HSBC Holdings plc in Fundinguniverse.com". Fundinguniverse.com. Retrieved 20 January 2012. 2. ^ a b "HSBC Group Structure". HSBC Holdings plc. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
1. 3.

^ a b "Group history 18651899". HSBC Holdings plc. Retrieved 4 September 2010.

4.

^ a b "Group history 19801999". HSBC Holdings plc. Retrieved 4 September 2010. ^ a b "HSBC Holdings plc Annual Review 2011". HSBC Holdings plc. Retrieved 29 March 2012. ^ a b c d e f g "HSBC Holdings plc Results 2012". HSBC. ^ "The World's Biggest Public Companies". Forbes. Retrieved 14 October 2012. ^ a b "About HSBC". HSBC Holdings plc. Retrieved 7 March 2011. ^ "FTSE All-Share Index Ranking". stockchallenge.co.uk. Retrieved 26 December 2011. ^ "HSBC Buys Bamerindus, Brazil Bank, For Billion". The New York Times. 28 March 1997. ^ "HSBC". UK Business Park. Retrieved 18 April 2011. ^ "Bank Group to Buy Republic New York". The New York Times. 11 May 1999. ^ Garfield, Andrew (3 April 2000). "HSBC leads the way into euro zone with 6.6bn French bank takeover". The Independent (London). ^ "HSBC buys insolvent Turkish bank". BBC News. 20 July 2001. ^ "HSBC buys Mexico's biggest retail bank". BBC News. 21 August 2002. ^ "HSBC pays 9bn for credit card group". BBC News. 14 November 2002. ^ "Sir John Bond lays bare HSBCs strategy for gaining ground". Thebanker.com. 14 April 2011. Retrieved 18 April 2011. ^ HSBC hates subprime, FT Alphaville ^ "HSBC HQ, Canary Wharf" (PDF). Retrieved 18 April 2011. ^ Timmons, Heather (12 September 2003). "HSBC Gets Approval To Acquire Polish Bank". The New York Times. ^ "HSBC 'buys stake in Chinese bank'". BBC News. 24 June 2004. ^ "M&S faces OFT inquiry into HSBC deal". The Independent (London). 12 September 2004. ^ Dash, Eric (5 August 2005). "HSBC to Acquire Metris for $1.59 Billion in Cash". New York Times. Retrieved 24 March 2012. ^ "HSBC closes in on Iraqi bank deal". BBC News. 2 October 2005.

5.

6.
7.

8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24.

25. 26. 27. 28. 29.


30.

^ "HSBC acquires Banca Nazionale del Lavoro SA from BNP Paribas SA". Alacrastore.com. 28 April 2006. Retrieved 18 April 2011. ^ Treanor, Jill (15 December 2007). "Taiwan gives HSBC 750m to take on Chinese bank". The Guardian (London). ^ HSBC Buys 73.21 percent Stake in IL&FS[dead link] ^ Hamilton, Jesse. "HSBC Executive Resigns at Senate Money-Laundering Hearing". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2013-01-19. ^ CounterPunch / By Helen Redmond (9 January 2013). "How HSBC Bank Got Away With Money Laundering for Drug Cartels". Alternet. Retrieved 2013-01-19. ^ HSBC bank closes its operations in the U.S.[dead link] ^ a b Jon Menon, HSBC Rues Household Deal, Halts U.S. Subprime Lending, Bloomberg L.P. 2 March 2009. ^ Neil Hume, Quote du jour Stephen Green, FT Alphaville, 2 March 2009: "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." ^ HSBC bank closes its operations in the U.S.[dead link] ^ Jon Menon 'HSBC to Raise $17.7 Billion as Subprime Cuts Profit', Bloomberg L.P., 2 March 2009 ^ Seib, Christine (10 October 2008). "HSBC quick to comply with refinancing demands". The Times (London). ^ Benjamin Scent HSBC seeking to build `war chest', The Standard, 4 March 2009. ^ Benjamin Scent 'Plunge probe' The Standard, 10 March 2009. ^ Wilson, Harry; Farrell, Sean; Aldrick, Philip (22 September 2010). "HSBC investors against Michael Geoghegan becoming chairman". The Daily Telegraph (London). ^ "HSBC chief Michael Geoghegan 'to quit' after failing to get top job". NewsCore. 24 September 2010. ^ Wilson, Harry (23 September 2010). "Douglas Flint to be HSBC chairman, Michael Geoghegan to leave in radical reshuffle". The Daily Telegraph (London). ^ "Great HSBC reshuffle".Euromoney ^ HSBC Says it Plans to Cut an Additional 25,000 Jobs by 2013[dead link]

31. 32.

33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38.

39. 40. 41. 42.

43. 44. 45.

^ "HSBC significantly cutting staff and operations to save money". Story.sierraleonetimes.com. 1 August 2011. Retrieved 21 January 2012. ^ "HSBC sheds 30,000 jobs, posts surprise profit rise". Reuters. 1 August 2011. ^ Decambre, Mark (11 November 2011). "Heads are rolling at HSBC". New York Post. ^ "HSBC to Sell 195 Branches to First Niagara for $1 Billion". Businessweek. 1 August 2011. Retrieved 21 January 2012. ^ Capital One to Buy HSBC Card Unit for $2.6 Billion Premium HSBC was a credit line used by BEST BUY, to lend consumers credit on purchases.[dead link] ^ HSBC to Reap $2.4 Billion Gain From Sale of U.S. Card Division[dead link] ^ "HSBC Exposed U.S. Financial System to Money Laundering, Drug, Terrorist Financing Risks". United States Senate, The Permanent Subcommittee On Investigations. 17 July 2012. Retrieved 23 December 2012. ^ "HSBC Exposed U.S. Financial System to Money Laundering, Drug, Terrorist Financing Risks (press release)". United States Senate, The Permanent Subcommittee On Investigations. 16 July 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2012. ^ Ben Griffiths. "HSBC faces $1bn US penalty for money laundering offences". This is Money. Retrieved 2013-01-19. ^ "HSBC money laundering report: Key findings". BBC News. 11 December 2012. ^ a b "HSBC to pay $1.9 billion U.S. fine in money-laundering case". Reuters. 11 December 2012. Retrieved 11 December 2012. ^ "Too Big to Indict". The New York Times. 11 December 2012. Retrieved 12 December 2012. ^ "Contact us." HSBC. Retrieved on 12 September 2011. "Global HSBC Group Head OfficeHSBC Group Head Office London Address: HSBC Holdings plc 8 Canada Square London E14 5HQ" ^ "The Global 2000" Forbes, 2 April 2008 ^ "The world's biggest banks". The Economist. 6 July 2006. Retrieved 18 April 2011. ^ "Hot Brands" The Banker, 4 March 2008 ^ Fast Facts HSBC Website, 4 April 2008 ^ "Parmy Olson, "Better Safe Than Sorry"". Forbes.com. 21 April 2008. Retrieved 2013-01-19.

46. 47. 48. 49.

50.

51.
52.

53. 54. 55.

56. 57. 58. 59. 60.

61. 62. 63. 64. 65.

^ Bowers, Simon (8 April 2008). "HSBC loses disk with policy details of 370,000 customers". The Guardian (London). ^ "Independent Auditor's Report to the Member of HSBC Bank plc, HSBC Holdings plc;" (PDF). Retrieved 28 October 2011. ^ "HSBC Bank International Limited". Retrieved 18 April 2011. ^ "About Global Banking and Markets". Hsbcnet.com. Retrieved 18 April 2011. ^ "Meet Samir Assaf, eFinancialNews". Efinancialnews.com. Retrieved 18 April 2011. ^ Press Clippings, HSBC Guyerzeller website[dead link] ^ "Strategy Day" (PDF). Retrieved 21 January 2012. ^ "HSBC GLT frontpage". Retrieved 22 August 2008. ^ a b "HSBC bank 'to offshore more jobs'". BBC News. 16 March 2005. ^ "Hsbc Usa". Hsbcdirect.com. 25 January 2010. Retrieved 18 April 2011. ^ "HSBC Canada". Hsbcdirect.com. 25 January 2010. Retrieved 18 April 2011. ^ "HSBC Taiwan". Hsbcdirect.com. 25 January 2010. Retrieved 18 April 2011. ^ "HSBC South Korea". Hsbcdirect.com. 25 January 2010. Retrieved 18 April 2011. ^ "Small Business Banking. HSBC DIRECT for business, small | HSBC Bank India". Hsbc.co.in. Retrieved 2013-01-19. ^ "HSBC South Korea". Hsbcdirect.com. 25 January 2010. Retrieved 18 April 2011. ^ "HSBCnet". HSBCnet. Retrieved 18 April 2011. ^ "HSBC Advance". Hsbc.com.lb. Retrieved 21 January 2012. ^ "HSBC Premier". HSBC Premier. Retrieved 21 January 2012. ^ "HSBC Logo". FamousLogos.us. Retrieved 24 January 2012. ^ "HSBC and SOS Children's Villages partnership". Soschildrensvillages.org.uk. 8 October 2005. Retrieved 18 April 2011. ^ "Official British & Irish Lions site". Lionsrugby.com. Retrieved 18 April 2011. ^ "Official Suppliers". wimbledon.org. Retrieved 12 November 2010. ^ "HSBC Named 'Official Banking Partner' of The Open". SponsorPitch. 15 October 2010. Retrieved 12 November 2010.

66. 67.
68.

69. 70. 71. 72. 73. 74. 75. 76. 77. 78. 79. 80. 81. 82. 83.

84. 85. 86.


87.

^ "Will get to bottom of HSBC staff violating safety norms: Govt on money laundering allegations". The Times of India. 19 July 2012. ^ Sanyal, Prasad (9 November 2012). "Arvind Kejriwal targets HSBC, Mukesh Ambani over black money". NDTV. Retrieved 9 November 2012. ^ "In the Future There Will Be No Forests Left". Global Witness. 2 November 2012. Retrieved 12 November 2012. ^ "Log tale A new investigation accuses HSBC of ignoring its own sustainability policies". The Economist. 3 November 2012. Retrieved 12 November 2012. ^ a b c d HSBC: Too big to jail?, CNNMoney, James O'Toole, Dec. 12, 2012. ^ U.S. Vulnerabilities to Money Laundering, Drugs, and Terrorist Financing: HSBC Case History [PDF file], Carl Levin, Chair, Tom Coburn, Ranking Minority, July 17, 2012 Hearing. See especially page 3 [8 in PDF]. ^ "HSBC 'held offshore accounts for criminals': Bank accused of helping customers launder money by opening thousands of accounts in Jersey". Daily Mail. 9 November 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2012. ^ a b http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/internationalbusiness/hsbc-to-pay-record-19-billion-fine-in-us-money-launderingcase/article6189108/ ^ a b Terrorists and drug lords targeted HSBC, bosses admit, The Independent [UK], Simon English, 6 February 2013. ^ HSBC Hires Tax, Anti-Terror Chiefs for Controls Panel, Bloomberg, Howard Mustoe, Jan. 30, 2013. ^ 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, February 14, 2013. ^ AFIP denounces HSBC with money-laundering, tax evasion, Buenos Aires Herald, March 18, 2013. ^ HSBC faces new money laundering claims in Argentina, BBC, 18 March 2013. ^ Argentina: HSBC helped launder money, evade taxes, CBS News, Associated Press (New York), March 18, 2013.

88. 89.

90.

91.

92. 93. 94.

95. 96. 97.

You might also like