HSBC Holdings plc

HSBC Holdings plc
Type	Public limited company
Traded as	LSE: HSBA NYSE: HBC Euronext: HSB SEHK: 005 BSX: 1077223879
Industry	Banking, Financial services
Founded	1991 (HSBC Holdings plc) 1865 (The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited)
Founder(s)	Sir Thomas Sutherland
Headquarters	8 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London, United Kingdom
Number of locations	7,500 offices in 87 countries & territories
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Douglas Flint (Chairman) Stuart Gulliver (Chief Executive)
Products	Credit cards, Consumer banking, corporate banking, finance and insurance, investment banking, mortgage loans, private banking, wealth management
Employees	295,995 (2011)
Subsidiaries	HSBC Bank plc The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation HSBC GLT India HSBC Bank USA HSBC Bank Middle East HSBC Mexico HSBC Bank Brazil HSBC Finance
Website	www.hsbc.com

HSBC Holdings plc is a global banking and financial services company headquartered in Canary Wharf, London, United Kingdom. As of 2011 it was the world's second-largest banking and financial services group and second-largest public company according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine. It has around 7,500 offices in 87 countries and territories across Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and South America and around 100 million customers.

HSBC Holdings plc was founded in London in 1991 by The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation to act as a new group holding company and to enable the acquisition of UK-based Midland Bank. The origins of the bank lie in Hong Kong and Shanghai, where branches were first opened in 1865. Today, HSBC remains the largest bank in Hong Kong, and recent expansion in mainland China, where it is now the largest international bank, has returned it to that part of its roots.

HSBC is a universal bank and is organised within four business groups: Commercial Banking; Global Banking and Markets (investment banking); Personal Financial Services (retail banking and consumer finance); and Global Private Banking.

HSBC has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It has secondary listings on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (where it is a constituent of the Hang Seng Index), the New York Stock Exchange, Euronext Paris and the Bermuda Stock Exchange. As of December 2011 it had a market capitalisation of £87.4 billion, the third largest company listed on the London Stock Exchange.