The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (), commonly abbreviated as HSBC (; romanized as Wayfoong by the bank) and formerly known as HongkongBank, is the Hong Kong–based Asia-Pacific subsidiary of the British HSBC banking group, for which it was the parent entity until 1991. The largest bank in Hong Kong, HSBC operates branches and offices throughout the Indo-Pacific region and in other countries around the world. It is also one of the three commercial banks licensed by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority to issue banknotes for the Hong Kong dollar.
The Hongkong and Shanghai Bank was established in British Hong Kong in 1865 and was incorporated as The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation in 1866, and has been based in Hong Kong (although now as a subsidiary) ever since. It is the founding member of the HSBC group of banks and companies, and, since 1990, is the namesake and one of the leading subsidiaries of the London-based HSBC Holdings. The company's business ranges from the traditional High Street roles of retail banking, commercial banking, corporate banking to investment banking, private banking and global banking.
Hong Kong banking
Under the HSBC brand, the bank maintains a network of around 220 branches throughout Hong Kong, from which it offers a wide range of financial products and services. For some time in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the bank was known by the name HongkongBank in its native city, although it now trades as HSBC. During that period, it also adopted the idiosyncratic practice of calling its ATMs Electronic Teller Card (ETC) machines.
Headquarters
The HSBC Hong Kong headquarters building is located in No 1 Queen's Road Central in the Central district on Hong Kong Island."Contact Us." HSBC. Retrieved on 12 September 2011. "The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation LtdThe Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation - Hong Kong Address:GPO Box 64, Hong Kong, 1 Queen's Road Central, Hong Kong SAR, China" It was also home to HSBC Holdings's headquarters until the latter firm's move to London to meet the requirements of the UK regulatory authorities after the acquisition of the Midland Bank in 1992. It was designed by British architect Norman, Lord Foster, and was the most expensive building in the world based on usable floor area at the time it was built.
Hong Kong dollar bank notes
HSBC is one of the three commercial banks which are authorised to issue banknotes for Hong Kong - the other two being the Bank of China (Hong Kong) and Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong).Note-issuing Banks from HKMA website. Retrieved 2018-06-03 Of the total notes in circulation measured by value, HSBC is the most prolific issuer, its notes representing 67.7% of those in issue. Hong Kong is unusual in that it is one of the few countries or territories where commercial banks are still permitted to issue their own banknotes.
Closure of bank accounts In June 2023, it was reported that HSBC had closed the bank accounts of the pro-democracy League of Social Democrats (LSD), and had refused to give reasons for its decision.
Digital Assets Development In April 2026, HSBC has been awarded Hong Kong's one of the first stablecoin issuer licences by Hong Kong Monetary Authority.
Other Hong Kong operations Hang Seng Bank
HSBC acquired a 62.14%, controlling interest in the local Hang Seng Bank in 1965 during a crisis of the latter. The Hang Seng Index for stock prices in Hong Kong is named after the Hang Seng Bank.
In October 2025, HSBC, the majority shareholder of Hang Seng Bank, announced that it would privatise Hang Seng Bank by purchasing the 38% that it didn't already own, and take the company off the SEHK after completion. PayMe
In 2017, HSBC launched the PayMe brand and mobile app, which features as a social payment app in Hong Kong, available to all non-HSBC users.
HSBC Insurance
HSBC Insurance provides insurance products and services to international and local brokers, agents and direct customers in Hong Kong, mainland China, Macau, Singapore, India and Malaysia.
Asia Pacific operations
The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation maintains a network of around 600 offices in 20 countries in Asia Pacific, as well as owning of a number of HSBC banks operating in various countries and holding the group's stakes in further lenders, particularly in China.Group structure | HSBC Holdings plc Simplified structure chart - Group structure | HSBC Holdings plc
Operations of the group in the Asia Pacific are under this subsidiary, and it forms the regional headquarters for Asia Pacific. This means that it is responsible for entities such as HSBC Bank Australia Limited, Hang Seng Bank Limited, HSBC Bank (China) Company Limited, HSBC Bank Malaysia Berhad (since 2009), HSBC Bank (Vietnam), HSBC Bank (Taiwan) and HSBC Insurance (Asia-Pacific) Holdings Limited, and the management of stakes in Bank of Communications (19.9%), Barrowgate Limited (24.64%) and Industrial Bank. But excluding the majority of the HSBC's Private Banking business in Asia Pacific.
Bangladesh
HSBC started operations in 1996. The bank primarily focuses on urban areas and has branches in most areas of the capital city of Dhaka, it also has branches in the city of Chittagong. The bank also has a good number of ATM booths in the cities present, it also has booths in most five star hotels.
HSBC Bangladesh is rated 'AAA' in the Long-term and ST-1 rating in the Short-term, which are the highest level of ratings for any bank or financial institution in Bangladesh.
HSBC Bangladesh has a help centre which operates on a daily basis. It is one of the very few banks in the country to offer day night banking. It also has begun to support education initiatives for people with disabilities; the bank recently partnered with the Blind Education and Rehabilitation Development Organisation to give scholarships to people with blindness.
Brunei
On 6 April 2016, HSBC Brunei commenced winding down its operation in Brunei as a part of HSBC Group global review. The bank which comprise retail, commercial and global banking services will no longer take on any new accounts, facilities or business from that date. Employees of the bank have been offered fair redundancy packages. On 9 and 10 November 2017, all HSBC Brunei branches and ATMs had ceased its operations. The remaining accounts were all transferred to the local, Baiduri Bank on the same date.
China
HSBC established its Shanghai branch office on 3 March 1865 and has had a continuous presence in the city since then, except during the Japanese Occupation. Until the economic reforms of the late 1970s, its activities were mainly in inward remittances and export bills, however its activities now span a wider range.
On 6 August 2004, HSBC announced that it would pay US$1.75 billion for a 19.9% stake in Shanghai-based Bank of Communications. At the time of the announcement, Bank of Communications was China's fifth-largest bank and the investment by HSBC was eight times bigger than any previous foreign investment in a Chinese bank. The industry considered this move, giving HSBC a lead in the race to grab pieces of mainland China's banking market. A year earlier, HSBC had joined with Hong Kong's Shanghai Commercial Bank to purchase an 11% stake in Bank of Shanghai (HSBC paid US$62.6 million for an 8% stake) and US$733 million for a 10% stake in Ping An Insurance.
On 1 April 2007, the mainland China offices of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation transferred to its subsidiary HSBC Bank (China), and it started operations on 2 April.
In July 2022, HSBC became the first foreign lender to open a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) committee in its Chinese investment banking subsidiary. The subsidiary, HSBC Qianhai Securities, is a 90% HSBC-owned joint venture.
India
In 1959 HSBC acquired The Mercantile Bank of India, London and China, established in October 1853 in Bombay. HSBC is now one of the fastest growing foreign banks in India, both in domestic banking and support operations for worldwide operations (see Group Service Centres).
Indonesia The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation opened its first Indonesian office in Jakarta in 1884. Having been able to restart its operations after the Second World War, it was again forced to close in the mid-1960s, however the bank was granted a new banking licence in 1968 its operations have grown to make it one of the largest foreign banks operating in Indonesia.
Japan HSBC opened its first Japan operations in Yokohama in 1866, followed by branches in other trading ports such as Osaka, Kobe and Nagasaki. It was heavily involved in the early development of Japan's current monetary system, and consulted with the government regarding fiscal policy, currency printing and related matters.
HSBC does not conduct ordinary retail banking in Japan, but conducts investment banking in Tokyo and Osaka. Since 2007 it has expanded its HSBC Premier private banking services for the "Mass affluent" market or high-net-worth individual clients. HSBC Premier has seven Premier branches in Japan including centers in the Hiroo, Akasaka, Marunouchi (flagship), Ginza, Yokohama, Ikebukuro, areas of Tokyo and one in Kobe.
In December 2011, HSBC announced to selling its private bank in Japan to Swiss peer Credit Suisse for an undisclosed sum, but at the end of October 2011 the value of the gross assets included in the sale was about $2.7 billion. It was a strategy to cut $3.5 billion annual costs by quitting businesses or countries where it lacks scale which Credit Suisse has a larger business in Japan than HSBC and in line with a global business restructuring it announced that will see it cut 30,000 jobs as it pares back small or inefficient operations.
New Zealand HSBC's operations in New Zealand are as a branch of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, which first gained a licence from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand on 22 July 1987. Today HSBC offers a range of financial products from a network of 9 offices.
Philippines HSBC's history in the Philippines dates back more than 150 years with the establishment of their first branch no. 90 Rosario Street (Now Quintin Paredes Street) in Binondo, Manila in 1875. In its early years of operation, HSBC serviced the booming Philippine sugar industry in the Visayas region by opening its first branch outside Manila in Iloilo in 1883. At the turn of the century, it financed railways that connected provincial towns across Luzon to Manila. During the American regime, HSBC was called to advise on Philippine currency reform. Its current headquarters are in Bonifacio Global City. Today, HSBC Philippines operates in key Philippine cities such as Cebu and Davao. It has ended Citibank and Standard Chartered's duopoly on international banking in the Philippines and currently the last among the former with retail banking operations in the Philippines since the Philippine exit of Citibank in 2023.
Singapore
In Singapore, The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited operates as a full service bank with its headquarters in Collyer Quay. It opened its doors in December 1877. In 2016, HSBC has created a locally incorporated bank in Singapore and has moved its retail and wealth business from HSBC Singapore Branch to the locally incorporated bank.HSBC to incorporate its local operations in May, Yahoo news 2016-02-05 Retrieved 2018-05-20 Today, HSBC's flagship office remains at the original Collyer Quay site where its first branch was opened. Its main office is located at Mapletree Business City in Pasir Panjang, HarbourFront.
HSBC Singapore is a Qualifying Full Bank and offers a comprehensive range of financial services including commercial banking, investment and private banking, insurance, forfaiting and trustee services, and securities and capital markets services.