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HSBC To Sell Spanish Stockbroker To Inversis Banco

11 11 2004

Hamilton, Bermuda: 11 August 2004 - HSBC Europe B.V., a member of the HSBC Group, has agreed to sell its Spanish stockbroking unit, HSBC Intermediarios (Espana) A.V. S.A., to Inversis Banco for a consideration of EUR3.5 million.

The transaction is subject to regulatory approval.

HSBC Intermediarios is headquartered in Valencia and currently has approximately 489.2 million Euros under management.

Notes to Editors:

The HSBC Group

HSBC Holdings plc is headquartered in the UK. The HSBC Group serves over 110 million customers worldwide from more than 10,000 offices in 76 countries and territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa. With assets of US$1,154 billion at 31 December 2003, HSBC is one of the world's largest banking and financial services organisations. HSBC is marketed worldwide as €˜the world's local bank'.