Household HSBC Watch

HSBC Bank USA has named Thomas M. Neale to oversee efforts to build a commercial banking presence in Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Virginia. Neale will lead HSBC, a unit of one of the world’s largest financial companies, in its push into the lucrative mid-Atlantic market. He comes to HSBC from Wachovia Corp., where he has been commercial banking director for Maryland since 2002. Before that, he worked in corporate finance for Ferris Baker Watts. He began his banking career in 1978 with MNA Financial, and has been in Maryland, Virginia and DC ever since.

That gave HSBC confidence that Neale could jump-start the bank’s effort to attract business customers in the region, said Stephen Cohen, HSBC Bank spokesman. Neale was traveling Monday and not immediately available for comment.

From a base in Washington, Neale will hire and oversee commercial banking teams in Maryland, Virginia and the District. His staff at HSBC will focus on companies with annual revenues between $10 million and $2 billion, offering a full range of lending and deposit products and services.

Right now, HSBC has just one retail branch in the region, in Washington. It also picked up some of the embassy banking business that Riggs National Corp. shed after pleading guilty to violating rules requiring banks to report suspicious transactions, said Cohen. The bank is eager to build strength in serving the region’s middle-market companies as a foundation for its growth here, said Cohen.