The (香港上海滙豐銀行), based in
Hong Kong , is a wholly-owned subsidiary and the founding member of the
HSBC Group , which is traded on several stock exchanges as
HSBC Holdings PLC . The business ranges from the traditional High Street roles of personal finance and commercial banking, to corporate and investment banking, and private banking.
Known locally by the affectionate term or equally its old
Trademark '''HongkongBank''', the bank was founded by the Scot
Thomas Sutherland to finance trade in the
Far East in
1865 . It is the largest bank in Hong Kong, with branches in major cities in
Mainland China .
In March
1865 the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited was established in Hong Kong to finance the growing trade between
China and
Europe , with an office opened in
Shanghai during April of that year. The bank was incorporated in Hong Kong by special dispensation from the
British Treasury in
1866 , and under the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank Ordinance
1866 , a new branch in
Japan was also established. The bank handled the first public loan in China in 1874, thereafter issuing most public loans.
Thomas Jackson became chief manager in
1876 . During his twenty-six year tenure, the bank became a leader in
Asia . Notable events included being the first bank established in
Thailand , in
1888 , where it printed the country's first banknotes; acting as banker for the Hong Kong government from the
1880s ; and participating in the management of British colonial government accounts in China, Japan,
Penang and
Singapore . A period of expansion followed, with new branch offices opening in
Bangkok (
1921 ),
Manila (
1922 ) and
Shanghai (
1923 ), and a new head office building in Hong Kong in
1935 .
In anticipation of the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong in
1941 , the bank's head office moved to London. During the period 1941-1943 the chief manager
Vandeleur Grayburn , and his successor
David C Edmondston , both died while interned by the Japanese.
Arthur Morse was appointed Chief Manager in
1943 and led the bank after the war. The head office moved back to Hong Kong in
1946 . During the Japanese occupation the bank's head office building was occupied as the headquarters of the Hong Kong Japanese military government.
Michael Turner became Chief Manager in
1953 and set about diversifying the business. His tenure came to an end in
1962 having established the Hongkong 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
1959 .
1965 saw the bank purchase a controlling interest in
Hang Seng Bank of Hong Kong, and
1972 the formation of a merchant banking arm,
Wardley Limited .
In
1980 the bank acquired a 51 per cent stake in
Marine Midland Bank , of the
United States Of America , and continued its expansion with the establishment of
The Hongkong Bank Of Australia Limited in
1986 .
1987 saw the bank's ownership of Marine Midland Bank increased to 100% and the acquisition of a 14.9% share in
Midland Bank in the
United Kingdom .
In
1991 HSBC Holdings Plc was established to act as a parent company to the group; shares are currently traded on the London and Hong Kong stock exchanges.
HSBC's Hong Kong headquarters are at 1
Queen's Road Central in the
Central area on
Hong Kong Island .
This Building was also home to
HSBC Holdings Plc 's headquarters until the latter firm's move to
8 Canada Square ,
London . It was designed by British architect
Norman Foster , and was the most expensive building in the world based on usable floor area at the time it was built.
Under the HSBC brand, the bank maintains a network of around 220 branches throughout the Hong Kong SAR. For some time in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the bank was known by the name HongkongBank in its native city. During that period, it also adopted the idiosyncratic practice of calling its
ATMs ''Electronic Teller Card (ETC)'' machines.
HSBC is one of the three banks which issues
Banknote s for
Hong Kong (see
Hong Kong Dollar ) - the other two being the
Bank Of China (Hong Kong) and
Standard Chartered Bank - of which HSBC is the most prolific by value, having issued 62.9% of notes in circulation.
See Also: Hang Seng Bank
HSBC acquired a 62.14%, controlling interest in the local
Hang Seng Bank in
1965 during a crisis of the latter. The
Hang Seng Index for stock prices in
Hong Kong is named after the Hang Seng Bank.
The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation maintains a network of around 170 offices in 20 countries in Asia Pacific, as well as owning of a number of HSBC banks operating in various countries and holding the group's stakes in further lenders, particularly in
Mainland China .
Operations of the group in the
Asia-Pacific are under this subsidiary, and it forms the regional headquarters for
Asia Pacific . This means that it is responsible for entities such as
HSBC Bank Australia Limited ,
Hang Seng Bank ,
HSBC Insurance (Asia) Limited and
HSBC Life (International Limited , and the management of stakes in
Bank Of Communications (19.9%),
Barrowgate Limited (24.64%) and
Industrial Bank Co., Ltd .
HSBC established its
Shanghai branch office on 3 April 1865. Apart from the period 1941-1945, during which Japan forced HSBC and other foreign-invested banks to leave the local market, it has had a continuous presence in the city. HSBC was historically housed in one of the largest and most impressive buildings on
The Bund , Shanghai's boulevard formerly known as the
Wall Street of the Orient. In April 1955, HSBC handed over this office to the Communist government, and its activities were continued in rented premises. Its activities were mainly in inward remittances and export bills until the economic reforms of the late 1970s. Chinese authorities had offered to lease HSBC its old headquarters on The Bund in 1995 but the offer was turned down. Currently HSBC is located in its own HSBC Tower across the river in the
Pudong area of
Shanghai .
On 6 August 2004, HSBC announced that it would pay USD 1.75 billion for a 19.9% stake in Shanghai-based Bank of Communications. At the time of the announcement,
Bank Of Communications was China's fifth-largest bank and the investment by HSBC was eight times bigger than any previous foreign investment in a Chinese bank. The industry considered this move, giving HSBC a lead in the race to grab pieces of mainland China's banking market. A year earlier, HSBC had joined with Hong Kong's
Shanghai Commercial Bank, Ltd. to purchase an 11% stake in
Bank Of Shanghai (HSBC paid USD 62.6 million for an 8% stake) and USD 733 million for a 10% stake in
Ping An Insurance .
In Hong Kong, the local population sometimes refers to the bank as 獅子銀行, "the Lion Bank", because of the pair of lion statues outside the HSBC headquarters, which also appear in some banknotes. Local films and television series set in Hong Kong, especially comedies, uses this nickname when refering to the bank.
