Household HSBC Watch

This time state attorney’s general are asking HSBC Finance for something other than evidence of predatory lending. They are asking for help. What will be the result if requests are ignored? History shows that HSBC Finance was Household International, which was purchased by HSBC in 2003. Prior to that Household was […]

It has been ten years since consumer advocates started Household - HSBC Watch. Sometimes we wonder where the years went. Ten years ago we started a single web page on a free server. Now we have over 3000 visitors every day. Part of the traffic obviously is a result of the […]

Although the credit quality problems at HSBC Finance appear to have tempered management’s enthusiasm for cheap acquisitions of distressed assets, HSBC wasted no time in complaining about wording in the US government $700 Billion bailout. The issue was the wording of “Headquarters in the United States.” As lawmakers and Financial chiefs worked on […]

Independencia, a specialist lender to low income Mexican families with more than 1 million clients — read as Subprime — is on their own. HSBC Holdings Plc said on Thursday it is selling its entire 18.68 percent stake in Mexican consumer lender Financiera Independencia to JPMorgan for 1.568 billion pesos (USD$145 million). If […]

HSBC Holdings PLC isn’t interested in buying Morgan Stanley, a person familiar with the bank said Friday. “HSBC has made clear in the past that buying an investment bank is not on its agenda,” the person added. “HSBC feels Morgan Stanley is not worth pursuing.” It appears as though HSBC is not interested […]

In a lesson plan, designed to teach about predatory and subprime lending, we asked this question of students in 2005: “What is the impact on a country’s economy if predatory lending is left unchecked?” Three years later the answer is clearly obvious. As of today the world has seen over $515 billion […]

HSBC Holdings and an unidentified Chinese bank are among potential buyers of Lehman Brothers, South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported on Wednesday, citing a financial industry source. State-owned KDB confirmed on Tuesday it was in talks with Lehman. Lehman prefers KDB over other contenders as KDB plans to keep its current management after […]

We received this editorial via email: I believe H.S.B.C. to be a fine institution. The problem is they purchased Household International whose Management had failed, then allowed them to stay in power. The same management ran it into the ground the first time and now they are doing it all over again […]

It seems like the Irish are not the only HSBC employees losing jobs. HSBC’s Livingston call center is closing. The bank said that although the staff would hopefully be absorbed within the company’s Scottish workforce it is no longer cost effective to keep the West Lothian location open. HSBC admitted that some […]

This is a perfect example of HSBC’s exportation of the Household International model of doing business. Credit card interest rates have been increased to as high as 50 percent in India. While proud of making a profit in developing nations HSBC is not alone. ICIC, Deutsche Bank, SBI and HSBC have either […]