HSBC Holdings plc is a British multinational investment bank and financial services holding company. The bank was established on 3 March 1865. It is the second largest bank in Europe, with total assets of US$2.984 trillion (as of December 2020). HSBC originated from a Hong in British Hong Kong and was established in its present form in London by the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation in 1991 to act as a new group holding company.
HSBC has approximately 3,900 offices and approximately 38 million customers in 65 countries and regions in Africa, Asia, Oceania, Europe, North America and South America. As of 2014, it was the sixth largest public company in the world according to Forbes magazine’s overall measurement. It is considered a systemically important bank by the Financial Stability Board.
HSBC is organized into four business groups: commercial banking, global banking and markets (investment banking), retail banking and wealth management, and global private banking.
HSBC has a dual primary listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the Hang Seng Index and the FTSE 100 Index.
HSBC Bank has been repeatedly fined for money laundering, setting up large-scale tax avoidance schemes.
