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Latin America
HSBC in the region
HSBC Latin America's operations cover 14 countries with more than 4,000 branches and approximately 64,000 employees. The region reported a pre-tax profit of US$ 2.2 billion in 2007 compared with US$1.7 billion in 2006, representing an increase of 26 per cent. Latin America contributes to 9 per cent of the Group's pre tax profit, reflecting the growing importance of the region to HSBC's emerging markets strategy.
The two largest contributors to this growth are Mexico and Brazil. HSBC's acquisitions in 2006 of Grupo Banistmo, Central America's leading financial group based in Panama, and Banca Nazionale di Lavoro in Argentina, strengthened the existing business platform and geographical representation. The acquisitions provided us with leading market platforms in Argentina, Panama, Honduras, Costa Rica and El Salvador, as well as foothold's in Colombia and Nicaragua.A commercial and retail banking business was also launched in Peru in 2007.
HSBC spent 2007 integrating these operations into the business. The Group, now, is well positioned to benefit from the region's positive growth prospects.
Sustainability in the region
We established a Regional Corporate Sustainability Office in 2007 to lead and coordinate the development and implementation of sustainability initiatives across the region. All our operations throughout Latin America have their own sustainability functions, as well as ongoing projects. HSBC's operations in Latin America include environmental and social considerations within credit scoring and risk analysis. The Group policies established for potentially sensitive sectors with high environmental and social risks ensure that projects the bank is interested in financing adhere to international, regional and national standards.
Please visit the sustainability sites of countries in the region by clicking on the name of the country in the list below:
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