10 December 2012

COMPLETION OF SALE OF CENTRAL AMERICAN
BANKING OPERATIONS

*** Businesses sold for a consideration of US$0.8bn ***

On 24 January 2012, HSBC Bank (Panama) S.A., an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of HSBC Holdings plc ("HSBC"), announced that it had entered into an agreement to sell the whole of its banking operations in Costa Rica, El Salvador and Honduras to Banco Davivienda S.A., a Colombian-listed banking group (the "Disposals")

The Disposals, which have received all regulatory and other approvals, have now been completed.

HSBC received an aggregated cash consideration of US$801m for the Disposals, which is subject to minor adjustments based on the closing balance of shareholders' equity in each country.

HSBC remains committed to its Latin American business, focused primarily on Argentina, Brazil and Mexico, in line with the HSBC Group's strategy.

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The HSBC Group

HSBC Holdings plc, the parent company of the HSBC Group, is headquartered in London. The Group serves customers worldwide from around 6,900 offices in over 80 countries and territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, North and Latin America, the Middle East and Africa. With assets of US$2,721bn at 30 September 2012, the HSBC Group is one of the world's largest banking and financial services organisations.