United Kingdom
The United Kingdom the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, sometimes referred to as Britain, is a sovereign country located off the north-western coast of the European mainland. The United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, many smaller islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state, the Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east, the English Channel to the south and the Celtic Sea to the south-west, giving it the 12th-longest coastline in the world; the Irish Sea lies between Great Ireland. With an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world, it is the 22nd-most populous country, with an estimated 66.0 million inhabitants in 2017. The UK is constitutional monarchy; the current monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 1952, making her the longest-serving current head of state.
The United Kingdom's capital and largest city is London, a global city and financial centre with an urban area population of 10.3 million. Other major urban areas in the UK include Greater Manchester, the West Midlands and West Yorkshire conurbations, Greater Glasgow and the Liverpool Built-up Area; the United Kingdom consists of four constituent countries: England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Their capitals are London, Edinburgh and Belfast, respectively. Apart from England, the countries have their own devolved governments, each with varying powers, but such power is delegated by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which may enact laws unilaterally altering or abolishing devolution; the nearby Isle of Man, Bailiwick of Guernsey and Bailiwick of Jersey are not part of the UK, being Crown dependencies with the British Government responsible for defence and international representation. The medieval conquest and subsequent annexation of Wales by the Kingdom of England, followed by the union between England and Scotland in 1707 to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, the union in 1801 of Great Britain with the Kingdom of Ireland created the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. There are fourteen British Overseas Territories, the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, encompassed a quarter of the world's land mass and was the largest empire in history. British influence can be observed in the language and political systems of many of its former colonies; the United Kingdom is a developed country and has the world's fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It has a high-income economy and has a high Human Development Index rating, ranking 14th in the world, it was the world's first industrialised country and the world's foremost power during the 19th and early 20th centuries. The UK remains a great power, with considerable economic, military and political influence internationally, it is sixth in military expenditure in the world. It has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946.
It has been a leading member state of the European Union and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. The United Kingdom is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the Council of Europe, the G7, the G20, NATO, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the World Trade Organization; the 1707 Acts of Union declared that the kingdoms of England and Scotland were "United into One Kingdom by the Name of Great Britain". The term "United Kingdom" has been used as a description for the former kingdom of Great Britain, although its official name from 1707 to 1800 was "Great Britain"; the Acts of Union 1800 united the kingdom of Great Britain and the kingdom of Ireland in 1801, forming the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Following the partition of Ireland and the independence of the Irish Free State in 1922, which left Northern Ireland as the only part of the island of Ireland within the United Kingdom, the name was changed to the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland".
Although the United Kingdom is a sovereign country, Scotland and Northern Ireland are widely referred to as countries. The UK Prime Minister's website has used the phrase "countries within a country" to describe the United Kingdom; some statistical summaries, such as those for the twelve NUTS 1 regions of the United Kingdom refer to Scotland and Northern Ireland as "regions". Northern Ireland is referred to as a "province". With regard to Northern Ireland, the descriptive name used "can be controversial, with the choice revealing one's political preferences"; the term "Great Britain" conventionally refers to the island of Great Britain, or politically to England and Wales in combination. However, it is sometimes used as a loose synonym for the United Kingdom as a whole; the term "Britain" is used both as a synonym for Great Britain, as a synonym for the United Kingdom. Usage is mixed, with the BBC preferring to use Britain as shorthand only for Great Britain and the UK Government, while accepting that both terms refer to the United K
Clydesdale Bank
Clydesdale Bank plc is a commercial bank in Scotland. Formed in Glasgow in 1838, it is the smallest of the three Scottish banks. Independent until it was purchased by Midland Bank in 1920, it formed part of the National Australia Bank Group between 1987 and 2016. Clydesdale Bank was divested from National Australia Bank in early 2016 and its holding company CYBG plc, trades on the London and Sydney stock exchanges. CYBG plc's other banking business, Yorkshire Bank operates as a trading division of Clydesdale Bank plc under its banking licence. In June 2018, it was announced that Clydesdale Bank's holding company CYBG would acquire Virgin Money for £1.7 billion in an all-stock deal, that the Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank brands would be phased out in favour of retaining Virgin's brand. As with two other Scottish banks, the Bank of Scotland and the Royal Bank of Scotland, Clydesdale Bank retains the right to issue its own banknotes. In March 1838, an advertisement appeared for a new joint stock banking company in Glasgow, the Clydesdale Banking Company.
It was to be "chiefly a local bank – having few branches – but correspondents everywhere" though it was conceded that a branch in Edinburgh would be necessary. The Bank duly opened for business in both cities in May 1838. Checkland described the Bank as the creation of "a group of Glasgow businessmen of middling order, liberal radicals…who were active in the government and charities of the city."The driving figure behind the formation of the Bank was James Lumsden, a stationer by business, a councillor, police commissioner and Lord Provost of Glasgow. Another member of the founding committee, Henry Brock, became the Bank's first manager. Brock came of a merchant family, was an accountant and one of the founders of the Glasgow Savings Bank. Despite the declaration in the advertisement, in the year after formation the Bank opened three Glasgow branches as well as its first country branches in Campbeltown and Falkirk; these were supplemented by the acquisition of the Greenock Union Bank. Following the purchase of the Greenock Union, there was little change in the structure of the Bank and there were still only 13 branches in 1857.
In that year, Clydesdale became the first Scottish bank to produce a printed balance sheet, it showed assets of £2.7 million and net profits of £70,000. The public disclosure of its strength stood it in good stead, for only months the Western Bank of Scotland closed its doors, followed the next day by the first closure of the City of Glasgow Bank. Clydesdale gained not only customers but 13 branches from the Western. A few months came the acquisition of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Bank, weakened by the same economic disturbances; the Edinburgh & Leith Bank, as it was had been formed in 1838 "for the benefit of the'industrious middle classes'" and it had bought the Dumfries-based Southern Bank of Scotland in 1842 and the Glasgow Joint Stock Bank in 1844, the latter leading to the change of name to Edinburgh & Glasgow Bank. Poor lending in the 1845–47 period to Australia, dogged the Bank for the next ten years and it was taken over by the Clydesdale for a nil consideration. Five years in 1863, Clydesdale acquired the more successful Eastern Bank of Scotland, like Clydesdale founded in 1838.
Based in Dundee it was to have one in Dundee, the other Edinburgh. Before opening for business it acquired the Dundee Commercial Bank to serve as its Dundee office. Difficulties with the two boards working together led to the Edinburgh bank being wound up and the Eastern became an Dundee bank. Much of the growth in the Bank's network had come from acquisitions and the management remained cautious regarding direct branch expansion. However, in 1865, a committee was formed to look at prospects and 16 branches were opened in two years. In 1874 the Clydesdale went south of the border and opened three branches in Cumberland but this was seen as following existing trade rather than making a specific attempt to enter the English market. Indeed, Clydesdale was one of the last Scottish banks to acquire a London office. In 1878, the City of Glasgow Bank failed for the second time, leading again to an increase in Clydesdale's deposits and the acquisition of nine of the Glasgow branches; the scale of the collapse led to further debate on desirability of limited liability and, following legislation in 1879, Clydesdale Bank registered as a limited liability company in 1882.
Reid described the period 1890–1914 as "the tranquil years", but that did not preclude steady expansion of the branch network – from 92 to 153. That was to mark the end of Clydesdale's independent existence. In 1917 the Bank was approached by London City and Midland and, although resisted, Clydesdale Bank was sold in 1920. However, it continued to operate independently and was always referred to as an affiliate, not a subsidiary; the Glasgow banks suffered more than others in the depressed economy of the inter-war period and from being the largest lender in Scotland in 1920, it fell to fifth place by 1939. Despite this, the Bank continued to open branches in areas enjoying export growth, the network increased from 158 in 1919 to 205 in 1939. Midland had acquired the North of Scotland Bank in 1923 but the Aberdeen management had fiercely resisted any attempt to merge with Clydesdale. However, the changed competitive market after the Second World War meant that the two banks co
Child & Co.
Child & Co. is a independent private bank, now owned by The Royal Bank of Scotland Group. The Royal Bank of Scotland incorporating Child & Co. Bankers is based at 1 Fleet Street in the City of London, it is authorised as a brand of The Royal Bank of Scotland by the Prudential Regulation Authority. Child & Co. was one of the oldest independent financial institutions in the UK, can trace its roots back to a London goldsmith business in the late 17th century. Sir Francis Child established his business as a goldsmith in 1664, when he entered into partnership with Robert Blanchard. Child inherited the whole business on Blanchard's death. Renamed Child and Co, the business thrived, was appointed the "jeweller in ordinary" to King William III. After Child died in 1713, his three sons ran the business, during this time, the business transformed from a goldsmith's to a fledged bank; the bank claims it was the first to introduce a pre-printed cheque form, prior to which customers wrote a letter to their bank but sent it to their creditor who presented it for payment.
Its first bank note was issued in 1729. By 1782, Child's grandson Robert Child was the senior partner in the firm. However, when he died in 1782 without any sons to inherit the business, he did not want to leave it to his only daughter, Sarah Anne Child, because he was furious over her elopement with John Fane, 10th Earl of Westmorland earlier in the year. To prevent the Earls of Westmorland from acquiring his wealth, he left it in trust to his daughter's second surviving son or eldest daughter; this turned out to be Lady Sarah Sophia Fane, born in 1785. She married George Child-Villiers, 5th Earl of Jersey in 1804, upon her majority in 1806 she became senior partner, she exercised her rights until her death in 1867. At that point the Earl of Jersey & Frederick William Price of Harringay House were appointed as the two leading partners. Ownership continued in the Jersey family until the 1920s, it is believed that the bank became the model for Charles Dicken's fictitious Tellson’s Bank, in'A Tale of Two Cities'.
In 1923, George, 8th Earl of Jersey sold the bank to Glyn, Mills & Co. a London-based commercial bank. Williams Deacon's Bank acquired Glyn's in 1939, retaining Child & Co. as a separate business, as which it continues to this day at No. 1 Fleet Street, EC4. Over their 350-year history Child & Co has attracted an exclusive client base including The Honourable Societies of Middle Temple and Lincoln's Inn, numerous landowning families. Scholars of the Inns receive their awards by cheques drawn on Child & Co, many barristers continue to use the bank throughout their professional lives. Several universities including The London School of Economics, Oxford University, Imperial College London are reported to hold accounts; until 1979 there was a ` representative office' at Oxford. This was conveniently near the richest college in Oxford, St John’s College, who still bank with them today. Child & Co. is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by both the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority for the purposes of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme as a brand of the Royal Bank of Scotland.
The Royal Bank of Scotland own three other private banks: Adam and Company Coutts Drummonds Bank Notes Bibliography Philip Clarke The FIrst House in the City
HSBC Private Bank
HSBC Private Bank is the principal private banking business of the HSBC Group. HSBC Private Bank's holding company is HSBC Private Banking Holdings S. A.. The holding company is wholly owned by British HSBC Bank plc and its subsidiaries include HSBC Private Bank S. A. HSBC Private Bank Limited, HSBC Private Bank Limited, HSBC Private Bank S. A. HSBC Private Bank S. A. and HSBC Financial Services Limited. HSBC Private Bank, together with the private banking business of HSBC Trinkaus & Burkhardt AG known collectively as Global Private Banking, provides services to wealthy people and their families through 96 offices in some 43 countries and territories in Europe, the Americas, the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East and Africa. At 31 December 2008, profits before tax were US$1,447 million and combined client assets under management were US$352 billion. HSBC Guyerzeller Bank AG was a subsidiary HSBC Private Bank. In 2009 the HSBC Guyerzeller business was re-branded HSBC Private Bank. In October 2012, HSBC Private Bank sold Property Vision Holdings Limited to PV Acquisition Limited in a 100% management buyout.
Property Vision was acquired by HSBC in 2001 and specialises in managing and providing advice on property purchases. Property Vision's exit from HSBC was part of wider restructuring by the bank, which made 36 disposals of “non-core operating assets” in 2011-2012. HSBC has announced the transfer of the bulk of its private banking business in Monaco to CFM Indosuez Wealth Management; the current HSBC private banking business employs 200 people. Those assets and parts of the business that do not transfer will be wound down. Swiss Leaks Official website
Halifax (bank)
Halifax is a British bank operating as a trading division of Bank of Scotland, itself a wholly owned subsidiary of Lloyds Banking Group. It is named after the town of Halifax, West Yorkshire where it was founded as a building society in 1853. By 1913 It had developed into the UK's largest building society and continued to grow and prosper and maintained this position within the UK until 1997 when it demutualised. In 1997 it became Halifax plc, a public limited company, a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. In 2001 Halifax plc merged with The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland, forming HBOS. In 2006, the HBOS Group Reorganisation Act 2006 transferred the assets and liabilities of the Halifax chain to Bank of Scotland which became a standard plc, with Halifax becoming a division of Bank of Scotland. A takeover of HBOS by Lloyds TSB was approved by the Court of Session on 12 January 2009, on 19 January 2009 Bank of Scotland, including Halifax, formally became part of Lloyds Banking Group.
The Halifax was formed in 1853 as the Halifax Permanent Benefit Investment Society. The idea was thought up in a meeting room situated above the Old Cock Inn close to the original Building Society building. Like all early building societies, the purpose of the society was for the mutual benefit of local working people. Investors with surplus cash would invest in the society to receive interest, borrowers could access loans to fund the purchase of a house. Unlike many British building societies which grew large by acquisitions and mergers, the Society chose an organic form of growth, proceeded to open branches throughout the UK. By 1913, it was the largest building society in the UK; the first office in London opened in 1924. In 1928, it merged with Halifax Equitable Building Society the second largest building society and was renamed Halifax Building Society; the society was now five times larger than its nearest rival, with assets of £47 million. A new head office was built at Trinity Road, Halifax in 1973.
The distinctive diamond-shaped building was used on marketing material during the'90s. Underneath the building is a specially constructed deedstore, used to store property deeds for a one off charge of £10, it is computerised and could be filled with Halon gas in the event of fire, though in the light of the environmental effects of this gas if released, it may have been replaced with other fire retardant systems. Its importance has diminished in recent years because property data is now kept on a central database kept by HM Land Registry; the society continued to grow in size throughout the 20th century, remaining the UK's largest building society. The deregulation of the financial services industry in the 1980s saw the passing of the Building Societies Act 1986 which allowed societies greater financial freedoms, diversification into other markets. Accordingly, the Halifax acquired an estate agent to complement its mortgage business, it expanded by offering current accounts and credit cards, traditionally services offered by commercial banks.
In 1993, it established a Spanish subsidiary, Banco Halifax Hispania serving British expatriate mortgage customers. The 1986 Act allowed building societies to demutualise and become public limited companies instead of mutually owned organisations, owned by the customers who borrowed and saved with the society. Although the Abbey National demutualised in 1989, the process was not repeated until the late 1990s, when most of the large societies announced demutalisation plans. In 1995, the Halifax announced it was to merge with the Leeds Permanent Building Society and convert to a plc; the Halifax floated on the London Stock Exchange on 2 June 1997. Over 7.5 million customers of the Society became shareholders of the new bank, the largest extension of shareholders in UK history. As Halifax plc, the new bank was the fifth largest in the UK in terms of market capitalisation. Further expansion took place with the 1996 acquisition of Clerical Medical Fund Managers, a UK life insurance company. In 1999, the Halifax acquired ComparetheLoan.
In 2000, Halifax established a telephone and internet based bank. In 2001, a wave of consolidation in the UK banking market led Halifax to agree a £10.8 billion merger with the Bank of Scotland. The new group was named Halifax Bank of Scotland with headquarters in Edinburgh, retained both Halifax and the Bank of Scotland as brand names. Halifax branches in the rest of the UK use the Bank of Scotland brand for business banking. In 2006 the Bank of Scotland, HBOS's main retail bank in the Republic of Ireland, announced that it would be rebranding its retail business as Halifax, citing the Irish public's exposure to Halifax advertising on ITV as among the reasons; the Bank of Scotland name was to be retained for business banking. In 2006, the HBOS Group Reorganisation Act 2006 was passed; the aim of the Act was to simplify the corporate structure of HBOS. The Act was implemented on 17 September 2007 and the assets and liabilities of Halifax plc transferred to Bank of Scotland plc; the Halifax brand name was to be retained as a trading name, but it no longer exists as a legal entity.
HBOS was acquired by the Lloyds Banking Group in January 2009 amid falling share price and speculation as to its future. Bank of Scotland plc became a wholly owned subsidiary of the group. In February 2009, Halifax made significant changes to its current accounts. From all new standard current accounts had zero credit and debit interest, along with no paid and unpaid item charges (which were up to £35, Halifax has rep
Bank of Ireland
Bank of Ireland Group plc is a commercial bank operation in Ireland and one of the traditional'Big Four' Irish banks. The premier banking organisation in Ireland, the Bank occupies a unique position in Irish banking history. At the core of the modern-day group is the old Bank of Ireland, the ancient institution established by Royal Charter in 1783. Bank of Ireland is the oldest bank in continuous operation in Ireland; the history is. 1783 – 25 June 1783, the Bank of Ireland opened for business at Mary's Abbey in a private house owned by one Charles Blakeney. 1808 – 6 June 1808, Bank of Ireland moved to 2 College Green. 1864 – Bank of Ireland first pays interest on deposits. 1926 – The Bank of Ireland took control of the National Land Bank – a friendly society. 1948 – The Bank of Ireland 1783–1946 by F. G. Hall was published jointly by Hodges Figgis and Blackwell's. 1958 – The Bank took over the Hibernian Bank Limited. 1965 – The National Bank Ltd, a bank founded by Daniel O'Connell in 1835, had branches in Ireland and Britain.
The Irish branches were acquired by Bank of Ireland and rebranded temporarily as National Bank of Ireland, before being incorporated into Bank of Ireland. The British branches were acquired by Glyn's Bank. 1980 - The first Pass card and machine were open known as ATM. 1983 – Bank of Ireland Bi-Centenary. A commemorative stamp was issued; the Bank commissioned the publication of "An Irish Florilegium". 1995 – Bank of Ireland merge First New Hampshire Bank with Royal Bank of Scotland's Citizens Financial Group 1996 – Bank of Ireland buys the Bristol and West building society for €882m, which keeps its own brand. 1999 – Merger talks with Alliance & Leicester were held and called off. 2000 – It is announced that Bank of Ireland is to acquire Chase de Vere. 2002 – Bank of Ireland acquires Iridian, the US investment manager, which doubles the size of its asset management business. 2005 – Bank of Ireland completes the sale of the Bristol and West branch and Direct Savings to Britannia Building Society.
2008 – Moody's Investors Service changed its outlook on Bank of Ireland from stable to negative. Moody's pinpointed concerns over weakening asset quality and the impact of a more challenging economic environment on profitability at Bank of Ireland. A share price collapse followed. 2009 – The Irish government announces a €7 billion rescue package for the bank and Allied Irish Banks plc in February. The biggest bank robbery in the history of the state took place at Bank of Ireland at College Green. Consultants Oliver Wyman validated Bank of Ireland's bad debt levels at €6 billion over three years to March 2011, a bad debt level, exceeded by €1 billion within a matter of months. 2010 – The European Commission orders the disposal of Bank of Ireland Asset Management, New Ireland Assurance, ICS Building Society, its US Foreign Exchange business and the stakes held in the Irish Credit Bureau and in an American Asset Manager followed the receipt of Irish Government State aid. 2011 – The Securities Services Division is sold to Northern Trust Corporation.
2013 – Bank of Ireland more than doubles interest rates on mortgages tracking the Bank of England rates, citing the need to hold more reserves and the'increased cost of funding mortgages'. Described by Ray Boulger of broker John Charcol as'having shot the reputation of its mortgages to smithereens' the bank continues to offer competitive mortgages through the Post Office. 2014 – Regulation of the bank will transfer to the European Central Bank. 2014 – Enters marketing alliance with EVO Payments International and re-enters the card acquiring market. BOI Payment Acceptance launches in December 2014; the Bank of Ireland is not, was never, the Irish central bank. However, as well as being a commercial bank – a deposit-taker and a credit institution – it performed many central bank functions, much like the earlier-established Bank of Scotland and Bank of England; the Bank of Ireland operated the Exchequer Account and during the nineteenth century acted as something of a banker of last resort. The titles of the chairman of the board of directors and the title of the board itself suggest a central bank status.
From the foundation of the Irish Free State in 1922 until 31 December 1971, the Bank of Ireland was the banker of the Irish Government. The headquarters of the bank until the 1970s was the impressive Parliament House on College Green, Dublin; this building was designed by Sir Edward Lovett Pearce in 1729 to host the Irish Parliament, it was the world's first purpose-built bicameral parliament building. The bank had planned to commission a building designed by Sir John Soane to be constructed on the site bounded by Westmoreland Street, Fleet Street, College Street and D'Olier Street. However, the project was cancelled following the Act of Union in 1800, when the newly defunct Parliament House was bought by the Bank of Ireland in 1803; the former Parliament House continues today as a working branch. Today, visitors can still view the impressive Irish House of Lords chamber within the old headquarters building; the Oireachtas, the modern parliament of the Republic of Ireland, is now housed in Leinster House in Dublin.
In 2011, the Irish Government set out proposals to acquire the building as a venue for the state to use as a cultural venue. In the 1970s the bank moved its headquarters to a modern building on Lower Baggot Street, Dublin 2; as Frank McDonald notes in his book Destructi
HSBC
HSBC Holdings plc is a British multinational banking and financial services holding company. It is the 7th largest bank in the world, the largest in Europe, with total assets of US$2.558 trillion. HSBC traces its origin to a hong in Hong Kong, its present form was established in London by the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation to act as a new group holding company in 1991; the origins of the bank lie in Hong Kong and to a lesser extent in Shanghai, where branches were first opened in 1865. The HSBC name is derived from the initials of the Shanghai Banking Corporation; the company was first formally incorporated in 1866. The company continues to see both the United Kingdom and Hong Kong as its "home markets". HSBC has around 3,900 offices in 67 countries and territories across Africa, Oceania, North America, South America, around 38 million customers; as of 2014, it was the world's sixth-largest public company, according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine. HSBC is organised within four business groups: Commercial Banking, Global Banking and Markets, Retail Banking and Wealth Management, Global Private Banking.
HSBC has a dual primary listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the Hang Seng Index and the FTSE 100 Index. As of 6 July 2012, it had a market capitalisation of £102.7 billion, the second-largest company listed on the London Stock Exchange, after Royal Dutch Shell. It has secondary listings on the New York Stock Exchange, Euronext Paris, the Bermuda Stock Exchange. In February 2015, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists released information about the business conduct of HSBC under the title Swiss Leaks; the ICIJ alleges that the bank profited from doing business with other clients. The BBC reported that HSBC had put pressure on media not to report about the controversy, with British newspaper The Guardian claiming HSBC advertising had been put "on pause" after The Guardian's coverage of the matter. Peter Oborne, chief political commentator at The Daily Telegraph, resigned from the paper. In 2016, HSBC was sued by Mexican families involved in deaths by organized-crime gangs for processing funds for the Sinaloa cartel.
The Hongkong and Shanghai Bank was founded by Scotsman Thomas Sutherland in the then-British colony of Hong Kong on 3 March 1865, in Shanghai a month benefiting from the start of trading into China, including opium trading. It was formally incorporated as The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation by an Ordinance of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong on 14 August 1866. In 1980, HSBC acquired a 51% shareholding in US-based Marine Midland Bank, which it extended to full ownership in 1987. On 6 October 1989, it was renamed by the Legislative Council, by an amendment to its governing ordinance made in 1929, to The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, became registered as a regulated bank with the Banking Commissioner of the Government of Hong Kong. HSBC Holdings plc incorporated in England and Wales, in the United Kingdom, as Vernat Trading Company Limited on 1 January 1959 and renamed Vernat Eastern Agencies Limited in the same year, was by a non-trading, dormant shelf company under a different, nominal name, when it completed its transformation on 25 March 1991 into the parent holding company to the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited now as a subsidiary, in preparation for its purchase of the UK-based Midland Bank and the impending transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong to China.
HSBC Holdings' acquisition of Midland Bank was completed in 1992 and gave HSBC a substantial market presence in the United Kingdom. As part of the takeover conditions for the acquisition, HSBC Holdings plc was required to relocate its world headquarters from Hong Kong to London in 1993. Major acquisitions in South America started with the purchase of the Banco Bamerindus of Brazil for $1 billion in March 1997 and the acquisition of Roberts SA de Inversiones of Argentina for $600 million in May 1997. In May 1999, HSBC expanded its presence in the United States with the purchase of Republic National Bank of New York for $10.3 billion. Expansion into Continental Europe took place in April 2000 with the acquisition of Crédit Commercial de France, a large French bank for £6.6 billion. In July 2001 HSBC bought an insolvent Turkish bank. In July 2002, Arthur Andersen announced that HSBC USA, Inc. through a new subsidiary and Tax Advisory Services USA Inc. would purchase a portion of Andersen's tax practice.
The new HSBC Private Client Services Group would serve the wealth and tax advisory needs of high-net-worth individuals. In August 2002 HSBC acquired Grupo Financiero Bital, SA de CV, Mexico's third largest retail bank for $1.1 billion. In November 2002, HSBC expanded further in the United States. Under the chairmanship of John Bond, it spent £9 billion to acquire Household Finance Corporation, a US credit card issuer and subprime lender. In a 2003 cover story, The Banker noted "when banking historians look back, they may conclude, the deal of the first decade of the 21st century". Under the new name of HSBC Finance, the division was the second largest subprime lender in the United States; the new headquarters of HSBC Holdings at 8 Canada Square, London opened in April 2003. In September 2003 HSBC bought Polski Kredyt Bank SA of Poland for $7.8 million. In June 2004 HSBC expanded into China buying 19.9% of the Bank of Communications of Shanghai. In the United Kingdom HSBC acquired
