HSBC

This article is about the HSBC Group. For individual entities of the group, see HSBC Bank.
Not to be confused with HBC (Hudson's Bay Company) or HBSC.

HSBC Holdings plc
Company typePublic
IndustryFinancial services
Founded
FounderSir Thomas Sutherland
Headquarters8 Canada Square,
London, England
,
United Kingdom
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Products
RevenueIncrease US$62.611 billion (2023)[4]
Increase US$30.348 billion (2023)[4]
Increase US$24.559 billion (2023)[4]
Total assetsIncrease US$3.038 trillion (2023)[4]
Total equityIncrease US$192.610 billion (2023)[4]
Number of employees
221,000 (2024)[5]
Subsidiaries
Subsidiaries
Websitehsbc.com

HSBC Holdings plc (Chinese: 滙豐; acronym 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 links to East Asia and a multinational footprint. It is the largest Europe-based bank by total assets, ahead of BNP Paribas, with US$2.919 trillion as of December 2023.[7]

In 2021, HSBC had $10.8 trillion in assets under custody (AUC) and $4.9 trillion in assets under administration (AUA).[4]

HSBC traces its origin to a hong trading house in British Hong Kong. The bank was established in 1865 in Hong Kong and opened branches in Shanghai in the same year.[1] It was first formally incorporated in 1866.[8] In 1991, the present parent legal entity, HSBC Holdings plc, was established in London and the historic Hong Kong–based bank from whose initials the group took its name became that entity's fully-owned subsidiary.[9][10][11] The next year (1992), HSBC took over Midland Bank 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.[12] 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.[13] HSBC has a dual[14] 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. It has secondary listings on the New York Stock Exchange, and the Bermuda Stock Exchange.

HSBC has been implicated in a number of controversies and the bank has been repeatedly fined for money laundering (sometimes in relation to major criminal organizations such as the Sinaloa cartel)[15] or setting up large scale tax avoidance schemes.

  1. ^ a b c "HSBC's history". HSBC Holdings plc. Archived from the original on 31 January 2013. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
  2. ^ "The Hongkong and Shanghai Bank Ordinance (Numbers 2 and 5 of 1866)". Legislative Council of Hong Kong (digitalised by the University of Hong Kong (Hongkong University Libraries)). Retrieved 21 June 2015.
  3. ^ "Consent to Variation of Class Rights, signed, JM Gray, for and on behalf of HSBC Holdings Besloten Vennootschap [of the Netherlands], reproduced as part of Exhibit Number One in Form 20-F filed by HSBC Holdings PLC with the Securities and Exchanges Commission of the United States of America, dated March 20, 2006". HSBC Holdings PLC. Archived from the original on 22 June 2015. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Annual Report 2023" (PDF). HSBC. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  5. ^ "Careers". HSBC. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  6. ^ UK Ring Fencing | HSBC UK Archived 24 June 2018 at the Wayback Machine Accessed on 11 December 2017
  7. ^ "The world's 100 largest banks, 2024". S&P Global Market Intelligence.
  8. ^ Naidu, Richa (9 December 2013). "HSBC considering listing UK banking arm – FT". Reuters. Archived from the original on 18 October 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
  9. ^ "Company History of HSBC Holdings plc in Fundinguniverse.com". Fundinguniverse.com. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  10. ^ "HSBC Group Structure" (PDF). HSBC Holdings plc. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 July 2012. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  11. ^ "Group history 1980–1999". HSBC Holdings plc. Archived from the original on 15 August 2010. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
  12. ^ "HSBC Website About us". HSBC Holdings plc. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  13. ^ "Global 2000". Forbes. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  14. ^ HSBC Holdings plc – Share information. Hsbc.com. Retrieved on 6 December 2013.
  15. ^ Gangster Bankers: Too Big to Jail, How HSBC hooked up with drug traffickers and terrorists. And got away with it Archived 16 February 2013 at the Wayback Machine, Rolling Stone magazine, Matt Taibbi, 14 February 2013.