HSBC Holdings plc

HSBC Holdings PLC

Type	Public limited company
Traded as	:  : 0005 : HSBC (ADR)
Industry	Banking, Financial services
Founded	First established on 3 March 1865; 151 years ago (1865-03-03) in Hong Kong (as The Hongkong and Shanghai Bank) First incorporated on 14 August 1866; 150 years ago (1866-08-14)(as The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) 25 March 1991; 25 years ago (1991-03-25) (as HSBC Holdings plc, as parent holding company to the entity in Hong Kong now as a subsidiary)
Founder	Thomas Sutherland
Headquarters	HSBC Tower, London
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Douglas Flint (Group Chairman) Stuart Gulliver (Group Chief Executive)
Services	Retail banking, corporate banking, investment banking, mortgage loans, private banking, wealth management, credit cards, finance and insurance
Revenue	US$60.68 billion (2015)
Operating income	US$22.36 billion (2015)
Profit	US$15.53 billion (2015)
Total assets	US$2.410 trillion (2016)
Total equity	US$531.90 billion (2015)
Number of employees	266,273 (2014)
Subsidiaries	Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, HSBC Bank plc, HSBC Bank USA, HSBC Bank India, HSBC Mexico, HSBC Bank Malaysia, HSBC Bank Middle East, HSBC Finance, Hang Seng Bank
Capital ratio	10.9%
Website	www.hsbc.com

HSBC Holdings PLC is a British multinational banking and financial services holding company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's sixth largest bank by total assets with total assets of US$2.410 trillion (as of December 2016). It was established in its present form in London in 1991 by The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited to act as a new group holding company. The origins of the bank lie mainly in Hong Kong and to a lesser extent in Shanghai, where branches were first opened in 1865. The HSBC name is derived from the initials of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. The company was first formally incorporated in 1866. The company continues to see both the United Kingdom and Hong Kong as its "home markets".

HSBC has around 6,000 offices in 71 countries and territories across Africa, Asia, Oceania, Europe, North America and South America, and around 60 million customers. As of 2014, it was the world's sixth-largest public company, according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine.

HSBC is organised within four business groups: Commercial Banking; Global Banking and Markets (investment banking); Retail Banking and Wealth Management; and Global Private Banking.

HSBC has a dual primary listing on the and and is a constituent of the Hang Seng Index and the FTSE 100 Index. As of 6 July 2012 it had a market capitalization of £102.7 billion, the second-largest company listed on the London Stock Exchange, after Royal Dutch Shell. It has secondary listings on the , Euronext Paris and the .

In February 2015 the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists released information about the business conduct of HSBC under the title Swiss Leaks. The ICIJ alleges that the bank profited from doing business with tax evaders and other clients.BBC reported that HSBC had put pressure on media not to report about the controversy, with British newspaper The Guardian claiming HSBC advertising had been put "on pause" after The Guardian's coverage of the matter.Peter Oborne, chief political commentator at The Daily Telegraph resigned from the paper; in an open letter he claimed the newspaper suppressed negative stories and dropped investigations into HSBC because of the bank's advertising.