HSBC Holdings was established in 1990 to become the parent company to The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation in preparation for its purchase of Midland Bank and a change of domicile for the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong. Shares in HSBC Holdings were first listed on the London Stock Exchange and Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 1991. The acquisition of Midland Bank giving HSBC a substantial presence in the UK was completed in 1992 and the headquarters of HSBC Holdings moved from 1 Queens Road Central, Hong Kong to 10 Lower Thames Street, London in 1993.
Major acquisitions in South America started with the purchase of Banco Bamerindus of Brazil for $1bn in March 1997 and the acquisition of Roberts SA de Inversiones of Argentina for $600m in May 1997. In May 1999 HSBC embarked on a major acquisition in the United States with the purchase of Republic National Bank of New York for $10.3bn. Expansion into Continental Europe took place in April 2000 with the acquisition of Crédit Commercial de France, a large French bank for £6.6bn. In July 2001 HSBC bought Demirbank, an insolvent Turkish bank. Then in August 2002 HSBC acquired Grupo Financiero Bital, SA de CV, Mexico's largest retail bank for $1.1bn. The new headquarters of HSBC Holdings at 8 Canada Square, London officially opened in April 2003. In November 2002 HSBC expanded in the United States acquiring Household International, a US credit card issuer for £9bn. 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". Then in September 2003 HSBC bought Polski Kredyt Bank SA of Poland for $7.8m. A terrorist attack took place in November 2003: a bomb blast in Istanbul damaged the bank’s head office in Turkey, causing several deaths and hundreds of injuries. In October 2003 HSBC bought the Bank of Bermuda for $1.3bn. In June 2004 HSBC expanded into China buying 19.9% of the Bank of Communications of Shanghai. In the United Kingdom HSBC acquired Marks & Spencer Retail Financial Services Holdings Ltd for £763m in December 2004. Acquisitions in 2005 included Metris Inc, a US credit card issuer for $1.6bn in August and 70.1% of Dar Es Salaam Investment Bank of Iraq in October.In April 2006 HSBC bought the 90 branches in Argentina of Banca Nazionale del Lavoro for $155m.Later that year, in July HSBC bought Grupo Banistmo, the largest financial services company in Central America, based in Panama for $1.8bn. In December 2007 HSBC acquired The Chinese Bank in Taiwan. In May 2008 HSBC acquired IL&FS Investment, an Indian retail broking firm.
Operations
Corporate profileIn February 2008, HSBC was named the world's most valuable banking brand by The Banker magazine. Not known for marked fluctuations in securities exchanges around the world relative to its rivals, HSBC is more well known in banking circles for its conservative and risk-averse approach in its business operations - a company tradition going back to the 19th 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. As of April 2, 2008, according to Forbes magazine, HSBC was the fourth largest bank in the world in terms of assets ($2,348.98 billion), the second largest in terms of sales ($146.50 billion), the largest in terms of market value ($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). HSBC is by far the largest bank both in the United Kingdom and in Hong Kong and prints most of Hong Kong's local currency in its own name. Since the end of 2005, HSBC has been the largest banking group in the world by Tier 1 capital. The HSBC Group 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 the business. With 9,500 offices in 85 countries, 210,000 shareholders, 330,000 staff and 128 million customers worldwide, HSBC arguably has the most international presence among the world's multinational banking giants. The HSBC Group operates as a number of local banks around the world. Outlined below are countries which, in 2007, generated the top 20 profit before tax figures, with the addition of the United States as specific issues exclude that country from the top 20 for 2007.[34] For details of other group companies see Category:HSBC.
 HSBC Bank International. HSBC Bank International Limited is the offshore banking arm of the HSBC Group, focusing on providing offshore solutions and cross border services to expatriates and migrants. 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 registered headquarters on the seafront in St Helier, Jersey. Named 'HSBC House', the building comprises departments such as Premier, Global Funds & Investments, e-Business and a 24 hour 'Direct Banking Centre' | 
