HSBC Holdings plc, the holding company of the HSBC Group, is headquartered in London, UK and was established in 1991, but its subsidiaries already have a considerable history. HSBC is one of the world's largest banking and financial services institutions, with a market capitalisation of US$180 billion at 31 December 2010. HSBC has deep roots and an international network of approximately 7,500 offices in 87 countries and territories across Europe, Hong Kong, the rest of Asia Pacific, the Middle East, North America and Latin America. HSBC's products and services are marketed through two client segments (Personal Banking and Commercial Banking) and two global businesses (Global Banking & Capital Markets and Global Private Banking)
On 17 December 1990, The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation announced a structural reorganisation which included.
1, The establishment of a group holding company, to be known as HSBC Holdings Limited, and the upgrading of the London branch of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation to the registered office of HSBC Holdings
2, HSBC shares are transferred to HSBC Holdings, which in turn issues new shares, exchanging four HSBC shares for one HSBC Holdings share, and reducing the original issue to 3/4 of a share for a future overseas listing.
3, HSBC Holdings shares are listed on the Hong Kong and London stock exchanges respectively after replacing HSBC shares.
4, HSBC Holdings is registered in the United Kingdom, but has Hong Kong as its head office.
5, The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation is a wholly-owned subsidiary of HSBC Holdings and maintains its registration in Hong Kong to facilitate the development of its business in Hong Kong.
The strategy of relocating the HSBC Group to the UK and establishing HSBC Holdings, but keeping the Group's head office in Hong Kong, was based on the political uncertainty surrounding the transfer of sovereignty in Hong Kong. By doing so, HSBC was able to avoid the risks associated with the transfer of sovereignty in Hong Kong, while at the same time keeping all HSBC's receipts and capital appreciation independent of the UK tax regime and tax rates, thus enabling HSBC to continue to make substantial profits.
In July 1992, HSBC Holdings acquired the remaining shares of Midland Bank to formally acquire its business and expand into the European market. However, the head office of the HSBC Group was moved from Hong Kong to London in January 1993 under the regulations of the UK regulatory authorities. The principal regulator of HSBC Holdings plc is the Bank of England, but its subsidiaries continue to be regulated by the relevant authorities in the places in which they operate. The HSBC Group Head Office in London will only provide key central functions such as strategic planning, human resource management, legal and company secretarial services, financial planning and monitoring, etc. In 1998, HSBC announced the construction of a new headquarters building in London to house the various divisions of the HSBC Group Head Office, which were originally located in different parts of the City's financial district. The building opened in 2002 and was officially opened in April 2003, and is also home to HSBC's head office.
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In November 1998, the HSBC Group announced a unified brand, with subsidiaries in almost all regions of operation adopting the HSBC brand and hexagonal logo, and individual HSBC offices outside the Asia Pacific region being integrated into the network of HSBC-branded local subsidiaries (for example, some HSBC branches in the UK are integrated into the HSBC network in the UK). The unification of the Group brand enhances awareness of the Group and its beliefs among customers, shareholders and employees around the world, and enables HSBC to launch new products and services around the world with one Group image. HSBC Holdings was also listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1999, underwent a share split, splitting each share into three and converting the nominal value of the shares from pounds sterling to US dollars, and replaced Commerzbank on the Paris Stock Exchange in 2000 with the acquisition of Commerzbank. Since 2002, HSBC has adopted "The world's localbank" as its slogan, emphasising the Group's experience in a wide range of markets and its thorough understanding of the cultural characteristics of the world. The acquisition of Bank of Bermuda in 2004 replaced Bank of Bermuda's listing on the Bermuda Stock Exchange.
It is customary for HSBC Holdings to review the location of the Group's head office every three years. However, in October 2006, it was reported that HSBC's Group Head Office might move out of London. Some analysts said that since the uncertainty has been removed and the situation has stabilised after the handover of Hong Kong's autonomy, a return to Hong Kong could not be ruled out because the tax rate in the UK is much higher than that in Hong Kong, and the scope of taxation and tax types are also wider and more extensive than those in Hong Kong, making HSBC Holdings liable for high taxes, and the annual tax paid by HSBC Holdings to the UK government is as high as £400 million. HSBC Holdings pays up to £400 million in tax to the UK government each year. In addition to Hong Kong, some British newspapers pointed out that the head office of the HSBC Group might be relocated to Ireland, but an HSBC spokesman then denied it. HSBC Holdings chief executive Kee Kean said that the UK was geographically advantageous and could quickly liaise with its business network around the world and was quite happy with the current group head office.
On 17 May 2000, HSBC Holdings acquired a 72.02% stake in Bangkok Metropolitan Bank in Thailand for 36.619 billion baht (US$940 million).
On 11 October 2003, HSBC Brazil acquired Lesango, the Brazilian consumer finance business of Rice Bank, for US$815 million (approximately HK$6,357 million).
In December 2005, HSBC Finance USA completed the acquisition of MetrisCompaniesInc. ("Metris") for US$1.6 billion. HSBC is now the fifth largest card issuer in the US for MasterCardR and VisaR cards1."
In February 2007, HSBC Holdings issued its first profit warning, with Chairman Ge Lin stating that the reason for this was a strategic error in its HSBC Finance, with Ge Lin pointing out that HSBC Finance develops mortgage business and this is not a core business, but HSBC Holdings has no intention of selling HSBC Finance. This is the first profit warning issued by HSBC Group since its establishment 140 years ago.
On 5 March 2007 CanaraBank, HSBC Insurance Group (Asia Pacific) and Orient Bank of Commerce (OBC) formed a partnership in India to form a life insurance company. Under the proposed agreement, CanaraBank will hold 51% of the new company, while HSBC and OBC will hold 26% and 23% respectively. The authorised capital of the new company will be INR3.25 billion (approximately US$73 million).
On 26 November 2007, HSBC Holdings announced the restructuring of the group's two structured investment vehicles (SIVs), CullinanFinanceLimited and AsscherFinanceLimited, which are expected to provide up to approximately US$35 billion in liquidity and term financing by August 2008 and to transfer a total of US$45 billion in mortgage-backed securities and other securities held by the two SIVs. The SIVs are expected to provide up to US$35 billion in liquidity and term financing by August 2008 and to include a total of US$45 billion in mortgage securities and other assets held by the two SIVs in their own balance sheets.
On 17 June 2008, HSBC sold 51% of its credit card acquiring business in the UK to GlobalPayments, one of the world's largest transaction processors, for US$439 million and formed a joint venture called HSBCMerchantServices. Based in Leicester, England, HSBC holds a 49% stake in the company.
On 19 September 2008, HSBC sold its 18.68% stake in FinancieraIndependencia, a Mexican consumer credit institution, for PHP1.568 billion (approximately US$145 million).
On 21 October 2008, HSBC Holdings announced the acquisition of an 88.89% stake in PTBankEkonomiRaharjaTbk ("BankEkonomi"), one of the largest commercial and industrial banks in Indonesia, through HSBC Asia Pacific Holdings, a subsidiary, for US$607.5 million in internal cash. Upon completion of the transaction, HSBC will have a presence in 24 cities in Indonesia with 190 outlets, making it the third largest foreign bank after Standard Chartered Bank and Citigroup.
On 2 March 2009, HSBC Holdings closed its US consumer lending business under the HFC and Beneficial brands and will focus on reducing its secured and unsecured real estate portfolios, with outstanding balances of US$46 billion and US$16 billion respectively. It will also continue to reduce its auto finance and other unsecured personal loan business, with a total portfolio of US$100.4 billion, leaving a total credit card-related consumer loan portfolio of US$46.6 billion. The vast majority of branches will also be closed after meeting customer commitments, and 6,100 people will be cut, resulting in annual cost savings of US$700 million.
On 2 March 2009 HSBC Holdings will issue 5,060,239,065 million new ordinary shares at a rights issue price of 254 pence per share, equivalent to HK$28.1 per share, at a ratio of five shares for every twelve shares, raising net proceeds of £12.5 billion (US$17.7 billion, HK$138.4 billion), and on the same day announced its 2008 annual results, with net profit falling back 70% year-on-year to US$5,728 million, a record low since 2002. Earnings per share fell to US47 cents and the fourth quarter dividend was only US10 cents. Pre-tax earnings also fell 61.6% to US$9,307 million.
On 9 March 2009, HSBC's share price was still trading at $37.5 before the end of the closing auction session, down 14% from the previous session. Just ten seconds before the end of the session, the share price was "marked" down by more than 10% from $37.3 to close at $33 per share, a full drop of $4.3, extending the one-day drop to 24%. HSBC Asia Pacific Chief Executive Officer John Fok revealed the following day that the share price movement was believed to be a result of market makers or hedge funds undercutting the share price.
On 25 September 2009, HSBC announced that the Group's CEO's office would be relocated from London to Hong Kong on 1 February 2010 in order to strengthen the development of the Asia Pacific market.
On 5 October 2009, HSBC sold its headquarters at 452 Fifth Avenue in New York to two subsidiaries of the Israeli group IDB, KoorIndustries PropertyandBuilding, for US$330 million in cash, after which HSBC will lease the units for 10 years. IDB will earn US$45 million (approximately HK$350 million) in rental income in the first year and incur total operating expenses of US$18.5 million in the same period. The buyer, a property company owned by Israeli conglomerate IDBHolding, announced on 4 October that it had reached an agreement with HSBC to purchase HSBC's portfolio of buildings in downtown New York City, USA, including the 29-storey HSBC Tower at 452 Fifth Avenue and the 11-storey building at 1 West 39th Street, totalling 865,000 square feet, for US$330 million.
23 October 2009 HSBC Insurance increased its stake in Vietnamese insurance company BaoViet (BV) from 10% to 18% at a cost of US$100.53 million (approximately HK$821 million).
On 28 October 2009 HSBC Holdings and Bank of Communications transferred their existing China credit card partnership into a new joint venture. HSBC Holdings and Bank of Communications intend to form a new joint venture company, BankofCommunications&HSBCPacificCreditCardCompanyLimited, on the basis of the PacificCreditCard partnership agreement. The initial registered capital is expected to be RMB2.5 billion (US$368 million). Bank of Communications will inject RMB2 billion into the joint venture, holding an 80% stake. HSBC Holdings will inject RMB1.158 billion for a 20% stake. The capital contribution is inclusive of a RMB658 million premium on the corresponding share capital.
On 11 November 2009, HSBC Finance sold its auto finance loan management division and $1 billion of loan balances to SantanderConsumerUSAInc in Spain for $904 million (approximately HK$7.05 billion).
On 14 November 2009 HSBC Holdings sold its London headquarters to the Korean National Pension Fund (NPS) for £772.5 million (US$1.3 billion, €864.4 million, HK$10.1 billion) in an all cash transaction. The 44-storey HSBC headquarters in Canary Wharf, London, is the 2nd tallest building in the UK. Upon completion of the deal, HSBC will lease back the headquarters building to the new owners for 17½ years at a cost of £46 million per annum.
18 December 2009 HSBC Holdings sold HSBC Insurance Brokers, the 9th largest insurance broker in the UK, to Marsh, an insurance brokerage and risk management company, for a total consideration of £135 million (approximately HK$1,694 million) in shares and cash, including Marsh's parent company, Vistas Group.
On 21 December 2009, HSBC Holdings sold its French headquarters, comprising two buildings at 103 Champs Elysees and 15 rue Vernet in Paris, totalling 357,000 square feet, to FrenchPropertiesManagement for €400 million (approximately HK$4,451 million), with plans to lease back the property over the next nine years following the sale. The property will be leased back over the next nine years after the sale. HSBC has sold its London, New York and France headquarters properties for a total of HK$16.7 billion.
On 25 December 2009, HSBC Holdings injected 6.29 billion Mexican pesos, equivalent to US$487.5 million (approximately HK$3.8 billion), into its subsidiary, GrupoFinancieroHSBC.
On 20 February 2010, HSBC sold its 20% common shareholding and 100% preferred shareholding in Wells Fargo Trade Bank to Wells Fargo for US$171 million, after which HSBC will develop its own business in the region. Wells Fargo Trade Bank is a joint venture between HSBC and Wells Fargo established in 1995 to provide trade finance services to medium-sized businesses in 18 states in the United States.
On 24 March 2010, The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation signed a lease with Swire Properties for 766,000 square feet of floor space at Swire Properties' Taikoo Hui commercial development in Guangzhou, which represents approximately 43% of the total office floor area of the development. The development also includes a retail component. It will be ready for occupation in 2012.
On 17 June 2010 The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, through its wholly-owned subsidiary HSBC Bank in Kazakhstan, entered into an agreement with The Royal Bank of Scotland to acquire RBS's retail banking assets in Kazakhstan, including a personal customer lending and credit card portfolio, four branches, 80 ATMs and two support offices, for US$52 million (approximately HK$400 million). HSBC will continue to employ 490 existing staff.
On 2 July 2010, HSBC Holdings, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, acquired the retail and commercial banking business of The Royal Bank of Scotland in India, where RBS has 31 branches and 1.1 million customer relationships and employs over 1,800 people. As at the end of March 2010, RBS had assets of US$1.8 billion in the relevant portfolio.
With effect from 19 October 2010, RBS will cease its global foreign currency cash supply business. HSBC is currently the world's largest foreign currency cash supply bank with a market share of over 60%.
Sale of Santander, a US auto loan portfolio with a face value of US$4.3 billion, for US$342 million on 27 August 2010.
As at the end of June 2010, the related auto loan portfolio totalled US$4.3 billion.
8 September 2010 Stephen Green, Chairman, will retire as Chairman before the end of the year to become Secretary of State for Trade and Investment in the UK.
15 October 2010 HSBC Holdings abandons its US$8 billion acquisition of Nedbank, South Africa's fourth largest bank.
20 October 2010The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation acquired the site at Shatin Town Lot No. 433 at the junction of On Yiu Street, On Kwan Street and On Lai Street, Shek Mun, Shatin for HK$816 million with a term of 50 years. The site has an area of approximately 8,533 square metres and is designated for non-residential uses (excluding hotel, petrol filling station and residential care home). The minimum and maximum floor areas are 25,599 sq.m. and 42,665 sq.m. respectively.
On 4 November 2010 HSBC Holdings agreed to sell its train leasing business, EversholtRailGroup, to a consortium of investment funds for £2.1 billion (US$3.4 billion). The consortium was formed by 3i Infrastructure, Morgan Stanley's Infrastructure Investment Fund and StarCapital. HSBC Holdings bought the business for £727 million (HK$9.16 billion) in 1997.
On 1 December 2010 HSBC Direct Investment (Asia) Ltd. (HSBCPrivateEquity (Asia) Ltd.), the company completed a management buyout and will be rebranded as HeadlandCapitalPartnersLtd. Management holds an 80.1% stake in the company, with HSBC Holdings retaining a 19.9% stake. The investment made includes 20.56% in Yonghui Supermarket.
On 12 April 2011 HSBC Mexico, a subsidiary of HSBC Holdings, was sold for Mexican pesos 2.36 billion (approximately HK$1.54 billion, US$198 million). Sold its entire stake in the retirement fund management business HSBCAfore, SAdeCV to Principal Financial Group.
17 May 2011 HSBC Holdings will become the preferred strategic partner of the Anglo Chinese Group in the UK and Europe. HSBC Holdings and the Anglo Chinese Group signed a five-year exclusive general insurance distribution agreement in 2007. The term of the agreement is now extended to 2016.
On 26 June 2011 HSBCSaudiArabia, the Saudi Arabian wholesale and investment banking arm of HSBC Holdings, will merge with SABBSecuritiesLtd. which is a wholly owned securities and custody business unit of The SaudiBritishBank. The combined company will be called HSBCSaudiArabiaLtd. and will be 49% owned by HSBC Holdings and 51% by SaudiBritishBank. However, HSBC Holdings said that the full operating rights of the combined joint venture would be in the hands of HSBC Holdings.
19 July 2011 Shandong Rongcheng HSBC Village Bank Co Ltd commenced operations on 19 July, opening a new page for foreign investors to enter the rural market in eastern China's Shandong province.
31 July 2011 HSBC Holdings will sell its 195 retail banking branches in the US to FirstNiagaraFinancialGroupInc.(FNFG) for US$1 billion in cash. The sale involved approximately US$15 billion in customer deposits and US$15 billion in total assets, including US$2.8 billion in loans and US$4.3 billion in assets under management.
On 1 August 2011, HSBC Holdings also planned to sell three insurance businesses in the UK, Mexico and Bermuda, and to consolidate its Connecticut and New Jersey branches into a nearby HSBC branch.
On 10 August 2011 HSBC Holdings agreed to sell its card and retail merchant business in the United States (the "Business") through its indirect wholly-owned subsidiaries, HSBC Finance USA Limited, HSBC USA Limited, HSBCTechnology and Services (USA) Inc. and other wholly-owned affiliates. ") (other than HSBC USA's credit card programme) to CapitalOneFinancialCorporation for a transaction price of US$32.7 billion, including a premium of US$2.6 billion and a profit after tax of US$2.4 billion. For this transaction, Capital One will be paid in cash and shares and HSBC has agreed to accept US$750 million for 19.1 million shares in Capital One. At 30 June 2011, the business had total assets of US$30.4 billion, including total customer loan balances of US$29.6 billion. The unaudited profit before and after taxation of the business for the half year ended 30 June 2011 was US$1.0 billion and US$0.6 billion respectively.
1 September 2011 Transfer of 8.1% interest in Tradelink Electronic Trading based in Hong Kong to TALApparel, one of the world's largest garment suppliers, for a cash proceeds of US$10 million.
On 21 September 2011 HSBC Canada sold its full-service investment advisory business, HSBC Securities (Canada), to a wholly-owned subsidiary of NationalBankofCanada for a cash consideration of C$206 million. At the end of August 31, the business had total assets of C$199.3 million and assets under management of C$14.2 billion.
On 11 November 2011, HSBC China increased its capital by RMB2.8 billion to a total of RMB10.8 billion, making it the first foreign bank to complete a capital increase in RMB.
HSBC Holdings sold its Japanese private banking business to Credit Suisse and Credit Suisse Securities (Japan) on 21 December 2011. As at the end of October, the total assets of the Japanese private banking business were approximately US$2.7 billion.
28 December 2011 HSBC Malta, a subsidiary of HSBC, to sell its local credit card business to HSBCMerchantServices, a subsidiary of GlobalPayments, for approximately US$14.476 million (approximately HK$113 million) Closed 6 branches in the first quarter 24 January 2012 Closed 29 of its branches in Costa Rica, 57 in El Salvador and 50 in Honduras, which have total assets of approximately US$4.3 billion and loan balances of US$2.5 billion, to BancoDavivienda, the third largest bank in Colombia, for US$801 million in cash.
On 26 January 2012 HSBC Holdings sold its retail banking and wealth management business in Thailand for approximately US$112 million to BankofAyudhyaPLC Bank of Ayudhya Thailand information shows that as at the end of December 2011, HSBC's net assets relating to Thailand were valued at Baht 17.5 billion, or approximately US$553 million.
On 7 March 2012 HSBC Holdings sold its general insurance businesses in Hong Kong, Singapore, Argentina and Mexico to AXA Life Group (AXAGroup) of France and QBEInsuranceGroupLtd of Australia in transactions with a total cash value of approximately US$914 million.
AXA Life acquired the general insurance businesses in Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico for US$494 million in cash.
QBEInsurance (Queensland Insurance) of Australia acquired Hang Seng Property and Casualty Insurance (Hong Kong) Limited, a subsidiary of Hang Seng Bank, and the general insurance business in Argentina for US$420 million in cash.
On 14 March 2012 HSBC Holdings subscribed for 2.36 billion Bank of Communications H shares at HK$13.26 billion at HK$5.63 per share. Upon completion of the subscription, HSBC's shareholding in the bank will be no less than the current 19.03%.
22 March 2012 HSBC Finance withdrew from the Canadian consumer finance market and will close the business after failing to find a buyer, affecting 500 employees in 75 branches.
23 March 2012 Sale of 80.1% of HPEME, a private equity fund management business in the Middle East, to Havenvest Partners Limited, involving $3.4 million in assets.
27 March 2012 HSBC Holdings is gradually withdrawing from its Slovakian operations, which is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2012.
29 March 2012 Acquisition of Rice Bank's retail and commercial banking business in the UAE to expand HSBC's Middle East operations. At the end of last year, the business had net assets valued at approximately US$769 million, with approximately 8,800 personal and business customers and US$573 million in loans.
Sale of 19.9% of the private equity firm MontaguPrivateEquityLLP to MLLPHoldingsLtd. on 9 April 2012, a company indirectly owned by members of Montagu's management. with over €4.7 billion in assets under management.
On 18 April 2012, its subsidiary HSBC Middle East agreed to merge its subsidiary HSBC Oman with Oman International Bank (OIB), the fifth largest bank in Oman, which is expected to be completed this quarter. HSBC Middle East will use its internal resources to inject an additional US$97.4 million into HSBC Oman before merging with OIB. The merged bank will be named HSBC Oman and HSBC Middle East will hold a 51% stake in the joint venture bank.
On 5 December 2012, HSBC Holdings announced that it had agreed to transfer its 15.57% stake in Ping An of China to Massive Group for a total transaction price of HK$72,736 million, equivalent to HK$59 per share, payable in cash. The Zhengta Group officially replaces HSBC and takes over Ping An of China. Zhengda Group is Asia's largest meat and food sales company and one of the world's largest Chinese multinational companies, founded in 1921 in Bangkok, Thailand by Chinese-born industrialists Xie Yichu and Xie Shaofei brothers, known outside of China as the Buh Bee Group.
On 30 September 2019, BlackRock Group increased its stake in HSBC Holdings by nearly 75.58 million shares at an average price of HK$60.1484 per share, spending a total of HK$4,546 million and increasing its shareholding to 7.32%.
18 February 2020, annual profit plunges 53% + major restructuring announced HSBC Holdings (HSBC.US) falls 4.77% in pre-market
HSBC Holdings (00005) announced the repurchase of 1,332,700 shares on 3 December 2021. Price per share £4.2755-4.353.
HSBC Holdings (26.29, 0.22, 0.84%) (HSBC.US) is considering a sale of its Canadian business for perhaps $7 billion (£6 billion), a spokesman said on Oct. 4, 2022.