16 March 2004
HSBC has published a new brief history, tracing the evolution of a Group that, from its origins as a regional trade bank in 1865, has grown to be one of the world’s leading financial services organisations today.
The HSBC name is derived from the founding member of the group, The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, established in Hong Kong and Shanghai in 1865 to finance international trade along the coast of China. So it is no surprise that internationalism, alongside a long-term outlook and a pioneering approach characterise HSBC’s development throughout its history.
“HSBC’s pride in its history is not a matter of nostalgia,” HSBC’s Chairman, Sir John Bond, explains. “Our experiences have shaped the Group’s character and business approach. Our record of resilience, adaptability and innovation helps to explain how we have been able to succeed during times of rapid change.”
“We are international in a way very few companies of any kind can claim,” Edwin Green, HSBC Group Archivist, adds. “What’s so distinctive about the Group as a whole is not only how early it gets into markets, but that it stays through thick and thin. Crises, wars, emergencies, social upheaval, HSBC has seen them all.”
The HSBC Group, A brief history charts the Group’s expansion in Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Americas and the Middle East & Africa, both through organic growth and strategic acquisitions. These began in the late 1950s with the acquisition of the Mercantile Bank of India and the British Bank of the Middle East.
More recent acquisitions - of Midland Bank (now HSBC Bank plc) in the UK, Republic New York Corporation, CCF in France, Brazil’s Banco Bamerindus, GF Bital in Mexico and Household International in the US - have extended HSBC’s presence in both developed and developing markets, and given the Group its unique balance of business and earnings between developed economies and faster-growing emerging markets.
It has also made HSBC one of the largest banks in the world, employing over 218,000 members of staff in 79 countries and territories, who serve the needs of over 110 million customers. And a strong focus on customers is at the heart of the Group’s strategic plan for 2004-2008, which identifies personal financial services; consumer finance; commercial banking; corporate, investment banking and markets; and private banking, as the key customer groups HSBC serves.
Since 2002, HSBC has marked itself as ‘The world’s local bank’, emphasising the blend of local knowledge and international experience that has characterised the Group from the founding of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation to the present day.
With this pedigree, HSBC looks forward to meeting the business needs and challenges of the 21st century.
Featured content
HSBC A Brief History
(40 page pdf 1,604K)
Due to the size of the document you may wish to download a specific section:
Foreword and introduction
(2 page pdf 150K)
HSBC in the Asia-Pacific region
(10 page pdf 495K)
HSBC in the Americas
(6 page pdf 253K)
HSBC in Europe
(8 page pdf 342K)
HSBC in the Middle East
(4 page pdf 191K)
The making of the modern HSBC Group
(4 page pdf 175K)
Principal members of the HSBC Group and further reading
(2 page pdf 47K)
