HSBC 2002 Annual Report Download - page 25

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FIFA World Cup site in mainland China. The HSBC
brand was exposed via 560 million page impressions
during the period of the campaign.
Eight new branches were opened in the region
during 2002, including HSBC’s first branch in the
Maldive Islands early in the year. The HSBC
Premier banking service is now available in 11
countries across the region. Further expansion of
other service channels, such as ATM and telephone
banking services, also occurred, as well as the use of
sales agents to reach customers. Retail customer
numbers, including cards customers, reached 3.8
million by year-end. Due in part to the expanded
accessibility of HSBC’s services, sales of insurance
and investment products increased significantly
during the year, and these particular products are
expected to show rapid growth in 2003. There will be
a greater focus on insurance and asset management
activities across the region in 2003 and HSBC
expects the acquisition of Keppel Insurance in
Singapore will facilitate further regional expansion
of these businesses in 2003.
HSBC’s credit card business in the rest of Asia-
Pacific recorded a 25 per cent increase in
outstandings in 2002. Against a depressed economic
climate, the focus was switched from acquisition to
usage and retention of customers. Further expansion
of the credit card business is expected in 2003, with
significant investment in staff, training and systems
to support this growth.
The focus on increasing the efficiency of the
Group’s operations in the region and reducing costs
has intensified during the year. Process reviews of
several of HSBC’s larger operations in the region
have been carried out with a particular emphasis on
streamlining operational procedures, concentrating
processing activities in single sites where economies
of scale can be achieved, and, where financially
appropriate, moving certain processing activities
offshore to the major Group Service Centres in India
and mainland China. Japan, Singapore and the
Philippines have migrated operations offshore during
the year, and further migrations are planned for 2003.
In aggregate the Group Service Centres in India and
mainland China now employ 4,720 people, an
increase of over 2,700 since December 2001. To
facilitate further growth and diversity in locations, a
new processing site in Malaysia will be opened in the
first half of the year.
In the Asia-Pacific region outside Hong Kong,
HSBC’s Corporate Investment Banking and Markets
business posted robust results.
As a result of investment in human resources,
marketing and systems development in 2001, HSBC
firmly established itself as a premier provider of
higher margin derivative products in 2002. This was
reflected in strong customer-franchise-related
revenues, augmenting accrual income and dealing
profits.
HSBC’s electronic dealing platform now
allows its various branches in the region to access
liquidity in its major global market-making
centres, thus enhancing speed of delivery, breadth
of product offering, and overall service quality. In
addition, many regional centres now allow
customers to deal directly via electronic media.
Middle East
HSBC’s operations in the region are conducted
primarily through HSBC Bank Middle East, HSBC
Financial Services (Middle East) Limited, 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 Middle East Finance Company
Limited (80 per cent owned) and HSBC Insurance
Brokers Limited also have operations in the region.
HSBC’s network consists of 139 branches and
offices, primarily in the United Arab Emirates and
Saudi Arabia, and also in Algeria, Egypt, Bahrain,
Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Iran
and the Palestinian Autonomous Area. In addition to
their core commercial and 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. During 2002, data processing was
integrated in the UK, and certain processing
activities were streamlined by moving them to the
Group Service Centre in Hyderabad. IT systems
development for the Middle East is now also sourced
from India.
North America
North America contributed US$1,238 million, or
12.8 per cent, of HSBC’s profit on ordinary activities
before tax in 2002 compared with US$503 million in
2001. HSBC’s principal banking subsidiaries in
North America are HSBC Bank USA, HSBC Bank
Canada and GFBital.