HSBC Bank (Europe)

HSBC Bank plc

Type	Subsidiary
Industry	Finance and insurance
Founded	1865 in Birmingham, Great Britain
Headquarters	London, United Kingdom
Key people	Jonathan Symonds (Chairman) António Simões (CEO)
Products	Financial services
Number of employees	85,000 (including its subsidiaries)
Parent	HSBC Holdings plc
Website	www.hsbc.co.uk

HSBC Bank plc is one of the largest banking and financial services organisations in the world. HSBC's international network comprises around 7,500 offices in over 80 countries and territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa.

HSBC Bank plc is one of the four major clearing banks in the United Kingdom and is a wholly owned subsidiary of HSBC Holdings. The business ranges from the traditional High Street roles of personal finance and commercial banking, to private banking, consumer finance as well as corporate and investment banking. Across all brands the bank operates some 1800 sites in the UK.

The UK headquarters of HSBC are at HSBC Tower, 8 Canada Square in the Canary Wharf area of east London. This building is also home to HSBC Group's headquarters, and houses some 8,000 staff over 42 floors.

HSBC Bank Plc is the only one of Britain's big five banks to hold more deposits than loans (loan:deposit ratio of 90%). This has led to the bank being seen as a less risky proposition than the other banks by investors and customers, as it is able to fully fund its own operations. It has also contributed to the company's share price maintaining value throughout the credit crunch, unlike other banks in the market.

The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation acquired a 14.9 per cent equity interest in Midland Bank in 1987, and a strong working relationship developed. In 1992, HSBC Holdings plc acquired full ownership of Midland Bank. It was one of the largest acquisitions in banking history, giving HSBC the major foothold in Europe that it needed to complement its existing business in Asia and the Americas. Midland Bank was renamed HSBC Bank in 1999 as part of the adoption of the HSBC brand throughout the Group.

Under the HSBC brand the bank maintains a network of around 1,100 branches throughout England and Wales, with a much smaller presence in Scotland and Northern Ireland where local banks tend to dominate. Branches are undergoing a rolling program of refurbishment to improve the 'retail experience' as the bank puts it, including the rebranding of branches as 'stores' and the inclusion of more open areas for staff to meet customers, as well as HSBC Live, a radio station specifically produced for the bank by media company Immedia in Newbury, Berkshire.