61 Facts About HSBC

HSBC Holdings plc is a British multinational universal bank and financial services holding company.

HSBC has offices in 64 countries and territories across Africa, Asia, Oceania, Europe, North America, and South America, serving around 40 million customers.

HSBC is organised within three business groups: Commercial Banking, Global Banking and Markets, and Wealth and Personal Banking.

HSBC has a dual primary listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the Hang Seng Index and the FTSE 100 Index.

HSBC has had a number of controversies and the bank has been repeatedly fined for money laundering or setting up large scale tax avoidance schemes.

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HSBC Holdings plc, originally incorporated in England and Wales, was a non-trading, dormant shelf company 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 Midland Bank and the impending transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong to China.

In May 1999, HSBC expanded its presence in the United States with the purchase of Republic National Bank of New York for $10.

In July 2006, HSBC announced that it would acquire Westpac's sub-custody operations in Australia and New Zealand for $112.

In 2007, HSBC wrote down its holdings of subprime-related mortgage securities by $10.

On 25 April 2011, HSBC decided to shut down its retail banking business in Russia and reduce its private banking presence to a representative office.

In 2010, then-chairman Stephen Green planned to depart HSBC to accept a government appointment in the Trade Ministry.

HSBC was succeeded as chief executive by Stuart Gulliver, while Green was succeeded as chairman by Douglas Flint; Flint was serving as HSBC's finance director .

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.

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 .

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.

HSBC announced in August 2015 that it would be selling its Brazilian unit to Banco Bradesco for $5.

In 2015, HSBC was recognised as the most trusted foreign bank in India by The Brand Trust Report 2015.

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.

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 and 80 branches to Citizens Financial Group and closing the remaining branches.

In May 2021, HSBC committed to end the financing of the coal industry, with a commitment to publish a new coal policy and provide further detail on its climate strategy by the end of 2021.

In July 2022, HSBC became the first foreign lender to open a Chinese Communist Party committee in its Chinese investment banking subsidiary.

HSBC has its world headquarters at 8 Canada Square in Canary Wharf, London.

HSBC ceased retail banking operations in Thailand and Japan in 2012.

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.

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Further, HSBC Private Bank is a name for UK-based private banking division.

HSBC Expat is the offshore banking division of the HSBC Group based in St Helier, Jersey that focuses on providing finance and cross border services to expatriates and migrants.

HSBC provides financial services to small, medium-sized and middle-market enterprises.

In December 2015, HSBC announced that Noel Quinn will succeed Simon Cooper as the chief executive officer of Commercial Banking.

HSBC provides more than 54 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.

HSBC Advance is the group's product aimed at working professionals.

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.

In October 2010, the United States OCC issued a Cease and Desist Order requiring HSBC to strengthen multiple aspects of its Anti-Money Laundering program.

In 2012, HSBC was fined by $14 million by Argentina for failure to report suspicious transactions in the country in 2008.

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 whistle blower leaking details of £700 million allegedly held in HSBC accounts in the Crown dependency.

In June 2015, HSBC was fined by the Geneva authorities after an investigation into money laundering within its Swiss subsidiary.

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 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.

In December 2021, HSBC was fined 64 million pounds by British regulators for failings in its anti-money laundering processes spanning eight years.

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.

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.

In 2016, HSBC was sued by Mexican families involved in deaths by organized-crime gangs for processing funds for the Sinaloa cartel.

FinCEN Files 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 declared it a drug money-laundering organization.

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.

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In November 2017, HSBC agreed to pay $352 million to settle a French investigation into the case.

In December 2019, HSBC Swiss agreed to pay a $192 million United States fine for the case.

HSBC was released after serving three months in prison and was allowed to return home to the U K while he pursued an appeal.

In December 2018, The Jerusalem Post reported that HSBC confirmed that the bank would divest from Elbit Systems Ltd.

In 2018, HSBC agreed to pay a $765 million fine to settle claims it mis-sold Residential mortgage-backed securities between 2005 and 2007.

HSBC has said in statement that it has been improving relevant control mechanisms since the financial crisis.

In June 2020, on the eve of the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests, HSBC took the rare step of wading into political issues by publicly backing Beijing's controversial new national security law for Hong Kong.

British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab 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.

HSBC said the disc had failed to arrive in the post between offices and it was not encrypted.

HSBC did not address the specifics of Clarke's assertions and he resigned shortly thereafter.

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.

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.

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.