HSBC and activist investor organizaiton Knight-Vinke have been challenging each other for quite some time. This past weekend Knight-Vinke said “‘The dismissive comments in your letter conveyed a worrying degree of complacency. I hope this is just a matter of tone and not of substance.” The same United States division of HSBC that concerns Knight-Vinke uses the same dismissive tone to talk with customers on a daily basis. It is most certainly the tone most often used with customers, be they mortgage, credit card, or auto loan customers. A quick look at our complaints blog verifies our position.

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In addition to recent articles about HSBC in Vietnam and India, we must add Korea to the list, since HSBC wants a stake in KEB. HSBC said they want to concentrate on emerging markets, but there is volitility in emerging markets. What is clear is that global banks can participate in bad tactics in one country, while buying in to other countries at lower prices. The subprime disaster made that fact perfectly clear. It is an issue that must be addressed.

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HSBC also likes India as a developing nation. In a recent article we wrote about problems in Vietnam, another HSBC favorite. India’s inflation accelerated to a 13-month high. That means India probably will not see an interest rate reduction any time soon. HSBC Group Plc in the past week reversed their earlier forecasts of a reduction in rates by July, betting the central bank will now keep them unchanged at a six- year high. There is no doubt that regulations are a little more relaxed than they are in the UK and US.

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HSBC has obtained approval to set up a bank in Vietnam, making it one of the first overseas banks to incorporate there. Vietnam is an interesting prospect as HSBC did not fare well in the civilized world and thus looks for profits elsewhere. That is not to say that many developing nations are uncivilized. That is not what we mean at all. Vietnam, however, is interesting because their stock market recently hit a free-falling downslide. The currency - the dong - is not stable. The main Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HOSE) recovered somewhat Wednesday, traders said.

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The following information pertains to the right to recind an agreement between HSBC and a customer. It is quite lengthy, but very interesting. The information comes from the FTC and OCC, respectively, according to the submitter. Case law is included:

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