HSBC: 'Best Global Bank for 2009'

HSBC Holdings Plc (HBC) of U.K. was awarded the title of “Best Global Bank” by the highly respected Euromoney magazine in London on July 8th.

Congratulating the bank Euromoney said:

“After a period in which banks suffered for putting too many eggs into too few baskets, one of the things that stands out at HSBC is the diversity of its business. It is a truly global bank.HSBC has adopted a clear policy of focusing expansion on emerging markets, and to place the bank in a position to focus on the international connectivity of those markets with the developed world. It is scoring a number of successes. The bank achieved almost full subscription to the rights issue. No other bank could have raised so much money in this way at that time. The market had made a judgment on HSBC.”

The CEO of HSBC, Michael Geoghegan commented

“Conservativism, strong capital management and responsible practice have certainly been the core of HSBC since we were founded in 1865. In practice, this character is personified every day by our 300,000 plus staff around the world and it’s on their behalf that I am delighted to accept the global bank of the year award for HSBC.”

Currently HBC has a 3.95% dividend yield and a market cap of $98.4B. The stock has nearly doubled from its March lows of nearly $23. HSBC made a disastrous deal back in 2002 when it acquired consumer finance company Household International. As a result of losses with the purchase, HSBC had to take a $10.6 billion goodwill impairment charge. After that deal, the bank made many strategic changes and positioned itself to be a strong survivor once the credit crisis hit markets worldwide. HSBC never took British government bailout funds and successfully raised money with a rights issue. The bank that calls itself “The World’s Local Bank” has a strong presence in many countries, especially in Asia, since it was originally founded in Hong Kong.

Euronomey named Standard Chartered of the U.K. as the best emerging market bank. Called simply as Stanchart, it does not trade on the U.S. markets.

The list of other global award winners for “Awards for excellence 2009":

Best commodities house - Morgan Stanley (MS)
Best corporate restructuring house - Lazard
Best DCM house - HSBC (HBC)
Best ECM house - Goldman Sachs (GS)
Best emerging market debt house - Citi (C)
Best emerging market equity house - J.P.Morgan (JPM)
Best emerging market investment bank - J.P.Morgan (JPM)
Best emerging market M&A house - Credit Suisse (CS)
Best equity derivatives house - Societe Generale Corporate & Investment Banking (SCGLY.PK)
Best foreign exchange house - Barclays Capital (BCS)
Best hedge fund - Paulson & Co
Best infrastructure and project finance house - BNP Paribas (BNPQY.PK)
Best investment bank - Credit Suisse (CS)
Best investor services house - Bank of New York Mellon (BNY)
Best M&A house - J.P.Morgan (JPM)
Best private equity firm - Blackstone (BX)
Best risk management house - Deutsche Bank (DB)
Best securities restructuring house - Goldman Sachs (GS)
Best short-term debt house - Goldman Sachs (GS)
Best sovereign advisory - Rothschild
Best structured products house - RBS (RBS)
Best transaction banking house - HSBC (HBC)
Best wealth management house - Credit Suisse (CS)

Source: Euromoney

Comments

[Adam Sorenson:]

I have to ask, and I'm being quite serious, how much did HSBC pay for this recognition? I have banked (or shall I say, tried to bank) with HSBC in 4 countries, and only in China do they have their act together. The other 3 countries were farcical - beyond a comedy of errors. It's a shame because a reliable and efficeint global bank would be a huge help to me and many people I know personally, as well as in business.

Aug 31 02:16 AM

[megans dad:]

the above comment made me smile because that was exactly the thought I was entertaining.
Living in the UK I opened an account with HSBC in Risca and Cwmbran, they took over my direct debits and forgot to pay my mortgage for 3months, send me a document with another persons name, telephone number and account numbers, their follow up is beyond poor and they are so large now the one hand does not know what the other is doing. I opened the accounts as I was going to move for work reasons to the US, I was told no charge for opening an account there, and then when I moved my accounts to them I was told, "no we made a mistake we will charge you." My advice to anyone looking for a bank who will look after you, go to someone smaller, someone who has a personal face and not use call centers in goodness knows where, where you get cut off if they cant solve your issue or if you ask to speak to someone in the UK. As for these awards, hummmm, joke comes to mind.

Aug 31 04:09 PM