Household HSBC Watch

We saw this on September 16th: “Investment banks must move quickly to strengthen their balance sheets and address their lack of funding if they are to come out of the current financial crisis unscathed, a senior banker at HSBC has warned.” A warning from HSBC? Acting like a global authority HSBC fails […]

Developing nations pose unique problems for banks, and HSBC is no different. The old “phony ATM machine cardreader” scam that was once popular in the United States has resurfaced in the UAE. HSBC and other banks have become targets of debit card fraud. Banks in the UAE are warning their customers about […]

The following is reprinted with permission. We thank Peter for keeping us updated. If you think you know your bank, or if you bank at HSBC you need to read this article. I personally think this is the business model HSBC Finance would adopt in the United States if it was legal. […]

HSBC customers of HFC and Beneficial Finance often seek answers and help that is beyond the capabilties of a local branch. Back in 1994 - well before HSBC bought troubled predatory lender Household International - HFC and Beneficial would refer customers to corporate. Phone numbers were disconnected, or the caller was referred […]

Carrick MollenKamp of the Wall Street Journal follows HSBC closely. His recent article “HSBC a canary in US mortgage mine” appeared on 12 November. It is interesting to note that HSBC helped to start the entire worldwide credit crisis. “…HSBC said souring sub-prime-mortgage loans had forced the bank to add nearly $US2 […]

We received this report late Friday and will protect the writer / sender’s identity:
I am amazed that the layoffs and future layoffs of super sub prime lending giant HFC (Household/Beneficial) , also known/owned and directed by HSBC has not made more headlines.

In the state of Pennsylvania alone more than 25 offices are likely to […]

HSBC will open a second backroom servicing hub on the University of the Philippines (UP) campus in Diliman, Quezon City, before yearend, HSBC Philippines CEO Mark Watkinson said. The new facility will bring the number of employees of HSBC Electronic Data Processing (Philippines) Inc. to nearly 8,000 from about 5,500 at present, Watkinson told […]

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 […]

At the annual meeting in London, chief executive Michael Geoghegan dismissed critics who continue to question HSBC’s $14.8bn (£7.5bn) purchase of US consumer credit firm Household International in 2003, which many believe has exposed the bank to too much risky lending.

“Some commentators have asked should you be in this business?’,” he told shareholders. “Well, let […]

Here is an interesting HSBC article from London:
Britain’s biggest bank is diverting poorer customers to foreign call centres while more profitable clients are dealt with in the UK. HSBC has admitted filtering calls from its 8.5million customers with current accounts and transferring them after assessing factors such as monthly income and credit rating.

The […]