Household HSBC Watch

Knight Vinke, the activist investor, launched a fresh attack on HSBC yesterday, accusing Europe’s biggest bank of flattering its US sub-prime losses by failing to write down $30 billion (£15 billion) worth of mortgage assets. Knight Vinke may have a point, as HSBC claims to have US losses under control, while almost every other […]

This quote, which is on the public record, is taken from Alan Greenspan’s testimony before the Committee on Financial Services, U.S. House of Representatives, July 20, 2005:

“The apparent froth in housing markets appears to have interacted with evolving practices in mortgage markets. The increase in the prevalence of interest-only loans and the introduction of more-exotic […]

Citigroup Inc., HSBC Finance Corp. and seven other companies agreed to help delinquent homeowners in Ohio avoid foreclosure in the first such accord between a state and home-loan servicers, Governor Ted Strickland said. Like alcoholics that keep drinking, the companies pledged to make an effort. Banks and other lenders pledged to modify terms […]

Recent problems in the subprime sector spread around the world very quickly. Then the problems spread to Alt-A mortgages. Cash strapped borrowers with second mortgages and adjustable rate mortgages caught the attention of the world. By the morning of August 9, 2007, something else caught the attention of investors around the world. […]

“Over the next 12 months we will have greater clarity’’ on defaults as “the bulk’’ of HSBC’s subprime two-year fixed rate home loans in the U.S. reset, Finance Director Douglas Flint said on a conference call with reporters. The company also set aside as much as $1.3 billion for bad unsecured loans through its U.S. […]

HSBC’s U.S. mortgage operations, which cater to a riskier clientele, may face deeper problems on about $9 billion in adjustable-rate mortgages. HSBC has tightened lending standards and made a number of management changes to minimize losses. The company also is reaching out to homeowners most likely to have problems with higher payments. HSBC and […]

TAMPA — A gloomy outlook for a portion of HSBC Holdings’ loan portfolio means a boom for the Tampa Bay area economy. The London-based financial institution has boosted employment at its offices in Tampa and in Brandon Florida as it faces fall-out from its mortgages to sub-prime borrowers.

The company has roughly doubled […]

In a blow to HSBC Finance Corporation and other large sub-prime mortgage lenders the federal government in the United States is considering regulations many thought should have been in place for many years. A “day late and a dollar short” according to consumer advocates, it is not the regulation, but action against shady lenders […]

“The most recent high profile mortgage distress signal came from HSBC, the world’s third largest bank in marketcap size behind Citigroup and Bank of America. What an unmitigated disaster their acquisition was in 2003 of Household International, a lender to subprime borrowers. HSBC increased their loan loss reserves to $1.38 billion in Q3 from $1.25 […]

Traditional credit scores haven’t done a good job in accessing risk for non-traditional mortgage products such as interest-only loans and option adjustable rate mortgages, says a senior executive with HSBC Holding Plc, a British international banking giant.

In discussing trends in HSBC’s U.S. mortgage business this year, company officials this week told analysts that they expect […]