HSBC

London-headquartered international bank whose origins date to the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, opened in 1865, with operations across Asia, the UK and nine Middle East, North Africa and Türkiye markets.

Industry: Banking and financial services | Location: London, United Kingdom | Founded: 1865

About HSBC

HSBC is an international bank headquartered at 8 Canada Square in Canary Wharf, London. Its origins lie in the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, which opened in Hong Kong on 3 March 1865 on the initiative of the Scottish businessman Thomas Sutherland, with its head office at 1 Queen's Road. A Shanghai office opened a month later and a London office in July of that year, and the bank was formally incorporated in 1866. The present parent company, HSBC Holdings plc, was established in London in the early 1990s, at which point the historic Hong Kong bank became its wholly owned subsidiary. Since 1 January 2025 the group has been organised into four businesses: Hong Kong, UK, Corporate and Institutional Banking, and International Wealth and Premier Banking. HSBC says it serves customers from offices in 60 countries and territories, and that its Corporate and Institutional Banking business serves companies from small enterprises to large multinationals in more than 50 markets. Georges Elhedery is group chief executive. For 2025, published on 25 February 2026, HSBC reported profit before tax of $29.9 billion, down about 7 percent mainly because of $4.9 billion in adverse notable items, among them $2.1 billion of dilution and impairment losses linked to its associate Bank of Communications. Excluding notable items, pre-tax profit rose 7 percent to $36.6 billion. Return on tangible equity was 13.3 percent (17.2 percent excluding notable items) and the CET1 ratio was 14.9 percent. Total dividends for the year were $0.75 per share, and the bank announced $6 billion of share buy-backs. Elhedery said HSBC targets a return on tangible equity of 17 percent or better, excluding notable items, in each year from 2026 to 2028. The Gulf is one of the regions where the group is investing. HSBC Bank Middle East is headquartered in Dubai. In Saudi Arabia, HSBC holds a stake in The Saudi British Bank (SABB), which merged with Alawwal Bank in 2019 to form the kingdom's third-largest bank by assets; HSBC Holdings B.V. held about 29.2 percent of the combined bank. HSBC says its roots in the kingdom go back nearly 70 years. In December 2025 the Saudi Ministry of Investment (MISA) granted HSBC a regional headquarters licence for its capital markets and advisory business, creating HSBC Capital RHQ in Riyadh. The bank says it has more than 250 capital markets and investment banking professionals in Saudi Arabia. Following a review of its investment banking operations in 2025, HSBC has said it is putting more resources into equity capital markets and mergers and acquisitions in the Middle East and Asia.

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