HSBC

HSBC Holdings plc (LSE: HSBA, SEHK: 0005, NYSE: HBC, Euronext: HSBC, BSX: 1077223879) is one of the largest banking groups in the world, ranked the third-largest company in the world in Forbes Global 2000. Its head office is located in the HSBC Tower in London's Canary Wharf. The group is named after its founding member, The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, a bank established in Hong Kong by Thomas Sutherland, a Scot, to finance British trade in the Far East in 1865. Today the corporation is simply 'HSBC', derived from 'Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation'.

The bank is the fourth largest corporation in the world in terms of assets (as of Dec 31, $1.861 trillion, while Citigroup reported $1.884 trillion). It reports its results in United States dollars, since 80% of its earnings originate from outside the United Kingdom. Nearly 22% of its earnings are from operations in Hong Kong, where it was headquartered until 1991. It is the largest bank in Hong Kong, and at the end of 2005 was the largest banking group in the world by Tier 1 capital.

The HSBC logo, known as the Hexagon, is derived from The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation’s 19th century house flag, itself derived from the Scottish flag, which is the angular cross that Saint Andrew (the patron saint of Scotland) was crucified upon.