The World's Local Bank

Who we are

Headquartered in London, the HSBC Group is one of the largest banking and financial services organisations in the world. The Group has around 9,500 offices and over 335,000 employees in 85 markets in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa. The HSBC Group serves almost over 100 million customers and has assets of over US$2,354 billion (at 31 December 2007).

In Mauritius, the HSBC Group offers an extensive range of financial services through a network of 11 branches and offices. This includes personal banking, financial planning and consumer finance, as well as commercial, corporate and institutional banking, payments and cash management, trade and export finance, treasury and financial markets, project finance, corporate finance and securities custody.

Head office:
HSBC Mauritius has its registered Head Office at:
HSBC Centre, 18, CyberCity, Ebene
Mauritius

Contact details:
Telephone: + (230)403 8333
Fax: + (230) 403 8300
Email: hsbcmauritius@hsbc.co.mu
Website: www.hsbc.co.mu


Management: Chief Executive Officer: Sandeep Uppal

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HSBC Bank (Mauritius) Limited

Our offshore unit (HBMU) has, for many years played a leading role in facilitating cross-border investment activity.

HSBC was one of the first banks to set up an Offshore Banking Unit in Mauritius in 1991, and has grown to be the largest one of its kind in Mauritius. The OBU’s capabilities have been recently enhanced with the opening of a new locally incorporated subsidiary, the HSBC Bank (Mauritius) Ltd (HBMU). Through the new subsidiary, HSBC is able to offer many of its global customers more sophisticated financial products and structures that benefit from the extensive range of international double taxation avoidance treaties that Mauritius has negotiated.

Address and Contact details:
HSBC Bank (Mauritius) Limited
6/F HSBC Centre, 18 CyberCity, Ebene
Mauritius

Phone : (230) 403 8333
Fax : (230) 403 0999
Internet : www.hsbc.co.mu/1/2/offshore

Management:
Managing Director: James Boucher

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History

The history of the HSBC Group in Mauritius can be traced back to 1859, when the Chartered Mercantile Bank of India, London and China (the forerunner of the Mercantile Bank Ltd) established a branch in Port-Louis. One well-known project that this Bank assisted in financing was the construction of the Port Louis to Curepipe railway network, in 1864.

In 1865, a decision was made to close the branch, due to difficult business conditions that Chartered Mercantile Bank was encountering in India. For the next half century the Bank was represented in Mauritius by the Blyth Brothers and Co Ltd, which today trades as Ireland Blyth Ltd, IBL.

In 1892, the Chartered Mercantile Bank was renamed as The Mercantile Bank of India Limited and in 1916, it came back to Mauritius through the acquisition of the then Bank of Mauritius, which was a commercial bank at that time.

The Mercantile Bank of India Ltd acquired not only the business of the old Bank of Mauritius, but also its historic building in Place d’Armes, and later changed its name to Mercantile Bank Ltd.

Mercantile Bank conducted business from its main office at Place d’Armes continuously from 1916 to June 1983. In 1959 the Mercantile Bank was bought by The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited and in 1983, the name of the Group’s operations in Mauritius was changed from the Mercantile Bank Ltd to The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited. In 1999, the international brand name HSBC was established and we are now known in Mauritius, as we are elsewhere, simply as HSBC. In 2002, HSBC launched a campaign to differentiate its brand from those of its competitors by describing the unique characteristics that distinguish HSBC, summarised by the words “The world’s local bank”.

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Brand

The HSBC brand is recognised as one of the world's most valuable brands, ranked 23rd in Interbrand's 100 Top Global Brands in 2007. It is a powerful asset across all our business lines and markets and gives us strength and brand values to help grow our business.

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Staff

420 (December 2008), including HBMU employees

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Customer groups

Commercial Banking – HSBC Mauritius is a leading provider of financial services to local companies across the whole spectrum from SMEs to local Top 100 companies as well as locally listed conglomerates. We provide a wide range of products and services that are typically designed to suit the particular needs of every corporate customer, including term loans, working capital lines, trade facilities, PCM solutions and treasury products. Each client has an assigned Relationship Manager who is there to fully understand the client's needs and provide the most appropriate solutions.

We also offer advice on all import and export-related issues through our Trade and Supply Chain Services Team, which is ideally placed to support the long-term growth of our customer's businesses. We combine a unique blend of local knowledge and award-winning international trade expertise, supported by advanced technology and our extensive network of dedicated trade services offices in over 50 countries and territories.

It is this winning combination that makes us the natural choice international trade partner for our customers, wherever in the world they do business. We can help put your customers in control of their operations and assist them to streamline their trade processes with our advanced technology. Our aim is to ensure that their import and export transactions are managed effortlessly and effectively, providing them with the best possible opportunities to grow.

Another service offered by our Commercial Banking Division is one of Payments and Cash Management. We offer a service to major customers who have local and international liquidity management requirements by first analysing their business scenario and subsequently tailoring cash management solutions through the coordination and setting up of arrangements.

HSBC Bank Mauritius also enjoys the services of HSBC Group’s Global Banking which is one of the largest businesses of its kind in the world. Our Global Banking offers a wide range of services including borrowing facilities to corporate clients primarily in India, South Africa and Thailand and to Offshore Companies based in Mauritius.

On the other hand, HSBC Securities Services (Mauritius) Ltd provides a comprehensive range of services to Foreign Institutional Investors.
These services include:

• Safe Custody
• Receipt and Delivery of shares and debt
• Corporate Action reporting
• Cash reporting
• Foreign exchange services
• Income Collection
• Portfolio reporting
• Proxy service.

As for the Personal Financial Services, HSBC Mauritius offers a wide range of products and services to a diverse domestic and cross border customer base, from accounts services to credit cards, savings, investments, home loans, personal loans and custodian services. Its innovative all-in-one priority banking service, AssetVantage, and capital secured and open-ended investment products enable HSBC to deliver customised and value added services to its customers. HSBC is the second largest credit card issuer in Mauritius and offers Rewards, a comprehensive and unique loyalty programme.

As far as Wealth Management is concerned, HSBC Mauritius has been marketing and distributing investment products manufactured by HSBC in Jersey and Hong Kong since 1999. The products available on our shelf range from capital protected funds to open-ended funds are designed to suit different levels of customers risk appetite. At International Investment magazine's annual Offshore Fund and Product Awards 2008, HSBC Bank International Limited received the top honour by being awarded the title,’ Best International Bank Group’.Four key principles have been acknowledged by this prestigious award: value, choice, growth potential and security, all of which can be seen in our new funds.

Technology - HSBC Mauritius draws upon the HSBC Group’s global systems with the aim of providing customers with choice, convenience and control across multiple channels, namely HSBCnet, which is a range of products and services that encompass our Corporate, Investment Banking and Markets business, delivering tailored financial solution to customers via internet. It provides a single point of entry to our internet solutions and complements our other channels.

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The HSBC Group

Who we are

The HSBC Group is one of the largest banking and financial services organisations in the world, with well-established businesses in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa.

Head office

HSBC Holdings plc is incorporated in England, with its head office in London.

Strategy

HSBC's strategic direction reflects its position as 'the world's local bank' with its unique cosmopolitan customer base. The combination of local knowledge and international breadth is supported by a substantial financial capability founded on balance sheet strength, largely attributable to the scale of the Group's retail deposit bases. HSBC is progressively reshaping its business by investing primarily in faster growing markets and, in the more developed markets, by focusing on businesses which have international connectivity.

Assets

US$2,547 billion at 30 June 2008.
Profit before tax
US$10,247 million for the first half of 2008.

Capital strength

Tier 1 capital ratio: 8.8%
Total capital ratio: 11.9%
at 30 June 2008

International reach

Around 9,500 offices in 85 countries and territories.

Staff

335,000 employees worldwide.

Customers

Over 100 million worldwide, with a total of 45 million customers registered for internet banking.

Share listings

HSBC Holdings is listed on the London, Hong Kong, New York, Paris and Bermuda stock exchanges. The company's US$0.50 ordinary shares are traded on the London, Hong Kong, Paris and Bermuda stock exchanges and are traded in New York in the form of American Depositary Shares, each of which represents five ordinary shares. Shares in HSBC Holdings are held by more than 200,000 shareholders in over 100 countries and territories.

Technology

HSBC is a major user of advanced information technology, with an annual spending of US$5.9 billion. Its e-business channels include the internet, PC banking and telephone banking. HSBC maintains its own private telecommunications network – one of the world's largest - to deliver IT services to customers and to staff around the world. HSBC web sites attracted 726 million visits during the first half of 2008.

Customer groups and global businesses
Personal Financial Services (including Consumer Finance)

HSBC provides its personal customers worldwide with a full range of personal financial services, including current and savings accounts, mortgages, insurance, credit cards, loans, pensions and investments. Consumer finance, part of Personal Financial Services, facilitates point-of-sale credit to consumers, and lends money and provides related services to meet the financial needs of everyday people.

Pre-tax profit for the first half of 2008 was US$2.3 billion, a decrease of 51% compared with the same period in 2007, largely due to higher loan impairment charges in the US consumer finance business. Elsewhere the business performed strongly, with pre-tax profit increasing by 23%. HSBC Premier, the Group's global banking service which offers affluent customers a seamless international service is now available in 40 countries, up from 35. In emerging markets, cards in force grew by 5%, compared with year-end 2007.

Commercial Banking

HSBC is a leading provider of financial services to small, medium-sized and middle-market enterprises. Pretax profit increased by 35% to US$4.6 billion. Growth in profit was strongest in the Middle East, Asia-Pacific and Brazil. Customer numbers grew by 8%, to 2.9 million, largely among small and micro-business customers. The number of small and micro-business customers using business internet banking increased by 22% to nearly 900,000.

Global Banking and Markets

This global business provides tailored financial services to corporate, institutional and government clients. In the most difficult financial market conditions seen for many decades, it delivered pre-tax profit of US$2.7 billion or 37% higher than the second half of 2007. However, pre-tax profit was 35% lower than in the first half of 2007.

Private Banking

HSBC has one of the world's top private banking businesses, providing financial services to high net worth individuals and their families in 96 locations. Pre-tax profits increased by 5%, to US$822 million, primarily due to strong performances in Switzerland and Monaco. In difficult times, total client assets rose by 1% to US$499 billion. Private Banking generated 59% of its business from clients in emerging markets. Three new offices opened in China in early 2008.

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