The world's local bank
Group history 1946-1979
| 2000 to present day | 1980 - 1999 | 1946 - 1979 | 1900 - 1945 | 1865 - 1899 |
1946-1979
After the Second World War HSBC quickly restored its head office powers and functions to Hong Kong. In the immediate post-war period the bank quickly took on a key role in the reconstruction of the Hong Kong economy. Its support for the skills and experiences of newcomers to Hong Kong was especially vital to the upsurge in manufacturing in this period.
In its other markets, however, the bank needed to make major readjustments. Most of the mainland offices in China were closed between 1949 and 1955, leaving only the Shanghai office to continue its long and eventful service. These changes carried the risk that the bank was over-concentrating its interests in Hong Kong. The bank addressed this concern by diversifying its business in a series of alliances and acquisitions.
In the Asia-Pacific region, key additions were the Mercantile Bank in 1959; a controlling interest in Hang Seng Bank Limited in 1965; and the formation of a merchant bank arm, Wardley Limited, in 1972.
The history of the Mercantile Bank stretched back to its foundation in Bombay (now Mumbai) in 1853 and the bank was particularly strong in the Indian sub-continent and Malaysia.
Hang Seng Bank, in contrast, was a local Hong Kong bank established in 1933. These developments were complemented by the purchase of The British Bank of the Middle East in 1959 and the establishment of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation of California in 1955.
By the 1970s the bank had firmly developed a policy of expansion by acquisition or formation of subsidiaries with their own identities and expertise.
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Full document
The HSBC Group - A brief History
(40 page pdf 2,645K)
Due to the size of the document you may wish to download a specific section:
The HSBC Group in the Americas
(6 page pdf 388K)
The HSBC Group in the Asia-Pacific region
(10 page pdf 798K)
The HSBC Group in Europe
(9 page pdf 555K)
HSBC Group in the Middle East
(4 page pdf 276K)
The making of the modern HSBC Group
(5 page pdf 246K)
Chinese translation of full document
HSBC Group - A brief history (Chinese translation)
(40 page pdf 4,483K)
