HSBC 2001 Annual Report Download - page 20

HSBC HOLDINGS PLC
Description of Business (continued)
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opened in Australia, India, Indonesia, Korea, New
Zealand, Sri Lanka and Taiwan. The branch network
is supplemented by an extensive ATM network, and
telephone and internet banking services, giving
customers a comprehensive range of channels
through which to deal with HSBC. The number of
personal banking customers grew during 2001 from
1.5 million to 1.7 million. Continued rapid expansion
is also anticipated in credit card issuing in 2002
following the success in 2001 in increasing cards in
issue from 2 million to 2.7 million, and there will be
significant investment in staff numbers, training and
systems to support this growth over the course of
2002. Very good progress was made during 2001 in
providing insurance and investment products to
customers and a strong foundation has been laid on
which to build accelerated growth in these products
in 2002.
Organic growth is supplemented by acquisition
where a suitable opportunity exists to purchase an
operation that will further enhance the products and
services available to customers. During 2001, HSBC
acquired a finance company in Brunei, an asset
management company in Taiwan, and a building
society in Australia, all of which have now been
successfully integrated with HSBC’s existing
operations. HSBC operations in Brunei have been
further enhanced with the establishment of an
offshore banking unit and an Islamic finance centre.
In Singapore, the qualifying full bank licence
awarded by the Monetary Authority of Singapore,
which will enable HSBC to expand the retail banking
services it can offer to customers in this location,
came into effect on 1 January 2002.
HSBC will continue to expand its regional
processing capabilities, building on the existing sites
in India and China. A programme has been
established to migrate high cost processing to these
lower cost sites progressively which will produce not
only cost benefits but will enhance processing
effectiveness with the centralisation of expertise.
Middle East
HSBC’s operations in the region are conducted
primarily through HSBC Bank Middle East, HSBC
Bank Egypt S.A.E. (94.5 per cent owned), British
Arab Commercial Bank Limited (46.5 per cent
owned) and The Saudi British Bank (40 per cent
owned). HSBC’s branch network in the region
consists of 134 branches and offices primarily in the
United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia and also in
Egypt, Bahrain, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman,
Qatar, Iran and the Palestinian Autonomous Area. In
addition to their core corporate banking services,
HSBC’s Middle East operations focus on personal
banking, private banking for high net-worth
individuals and the rapidly developing field of
Islamic finance.
North America
North America contributed US$481 million, or 6 per
cent, of HSBC’s profit on ordinary activities before
tax in 2001 compared with US$850 million in 2000.
HSBC’s principal banking subsidiaries in North
America are HSBC Bank USA and HSBC Bank
Canada.
United States
At 31 December 2001, HSBC Bank USA had assets
of US$87 billion and deposits of US$57 billion and
was the twelfth-largest bank holding company in the
United States, ranked by total assets, and the third-
largest depositary institution in New York State,
serving over two million customers.
HSBC Bank USA is engaged in general
commercial banking business, offering a full range of
banking products and services to individuals,
including high-net-worth individuals, corporations,
institutions and governments. Through HSBC Bank
USA, HSBC has the largest branch network in New
York State, where it has over 415 branches, as well
as two branches in Pennsylvania, eight branches in
Florida and three branches in California. Selected
commercial and consumer banking products are
offered on a national basis, including mortgage
servicing to over 3,000 brokers and 48 states.
As a result of the acquisition of RNYC in
December 1999, HSBC provides the fifth-largest
factoring service in the United States, has doubled
assets under administration and greatly enhanced
HSBC’s global treasury and foreign exchange
businesses. It is now also a world leader in banknotes
and precious metals trading. At 31 December 2001,
HSBC Bank USA’ s customer base included more
than 2 million personal and 180,000 commercial and
institutional customers.
Through its participation in the joint venture
Wells Fargo HSBC Trade Bank with Wells Fargo
Bank, HSBC offers trade-related financing
throughout the western United States. Through
HSBC’s international network, HSBC Bank USA