HSBC Canada
HSBC Canada is the Canadian subsidiary of HSBC. HSBC Canada is the seventh largest bank in Canada, with offices throughout the country, and is the largest foreign-owned bank in Canada. Unusually for a foreign bank, corporate headquarters is in Vancouver, rather than Toronto.
History
- 1979 HSBC buys a Vancouver based acceptance company that finances machinery and equipment for small companies operating in British Columbia.
- 1981 HSBC incorporates Hongkong Bank of Canada (HBC), in Vancouver as a chartered bank effective July 1, 1981 under the Bank Act of Canada. HBC uses its subsidiary as a base. HBC has a few retail branches primarily focused on Asian-Canadians but the major portion of the bank's business is with commercial enterprises. HBC opens branches in major cities in western Canada and in Toronto and Montreal but growth is slow. HBC seeks to grow by acquisition but the first three attempts to buy an existing institution are unsuccessful. The fourth attempt succeeds.
- 1986 HBC acquires the assets of Bank of British Columbia, which had essentially failed. HBC gains $2.6 billion in assets and adds 41 branches in British Columbia and Alberta. Overnight, HBC moves from 20th largest to 9th largest bank in Canada.
- 1988 HBC amalgamates Midland Bank Canada, thereby increasing assets by $472 million, gaining many new corporate banking relationships, and expanding to Eastern Canada.
- 1990 HBC amalgamates Lloyds Bank Canada, thereby increasing assets by $4.4 billion and adding 53 branches across Canada, mostly in Ontario and Quebec. HBC?s assets after this acquisition are $10.2 billion at October 31, 1990. This merger doubles its the branch network, substantially increases HBC?s exposure in eastern Canada, and makes it truly bilingual with branches in eight Quebec communities. HBC becomes the largest foreign bank. (Lloyds Bank had acquired Continental Bank in 1986. This began in 1973 as Niagara Finance Company, became IAC Limited, and then Continental Bank.)
- 1993 HBC acquires ANZ Bank Canada consisting of one office in Toronto, which it merged with its 70 York Street branch. This purchase moves HBC to seventh largest bank in Canada with branches in every province except Prince Edward Island. (ANZ had acquired Grindlays Bank Canada with its acquisition of Grindlays but management was more interested in expanding in the Asia-Pacific area.)
- 1996 HBC amalgamates Barclays Bank Canada. Barclays had re-entered Canada in 1979 and developed a diversified but modest range of activities that it later shrank. Barclays' Canadian operations lost approximately $120-million between 1992 and 1996. In 1994 Barclays closed 6 branches (Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, London, Montreal and Halifax) retaining only its head office. In 1993 it had closed Edmonton. In 1985 it bought the assets of Wells Fargo Bank (Canada). Wells Fargo sold its operations in Alberta (and in Florida) to Barclays as part of a re-focusing on its home market. HBC acquires the Seattle, Washington and Portland, Oregon branches of HSBC. The growing north-south trade occasioned by the adoption of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994 made this move into the United States seem a natural expansion along with the business interests of many of the bank's customers.
- 1998 HBC acquires National Westminster Bank of Canada, which has assets of C$844.5 million. Nat West had entered in 1982.
- 1999 HBC changes its name to HSBC Bank Canada, consistent with the HSBC Group's strategy of creating the global brand, HSBC.
- 2000 HSBC Bank Canada acquires Republic National Bank of New York (Canada) after HSBC acquires the parent bank. (In 1996 Republic bought Israel Discount Bank of Canada?s operations. In 1994 Israel-based Bank Hapoalim (Canada) sold its operations to Republic National Bank of New York (Canada). Bank Leumi Le Israel (Canada) was taken over by Republic National Bank of New York (Canada) in 1993.) Republic had entered Canada in 1982.
- 2001 HSBC Canada acquires CCF Canada after HSBC acquires CCF. CCF had just acquired Credit Lyonnais Canada. Credit Commercial de France (Canada) sold out to Societe Generale (Canada) in 1990, having entered in 1982 in Montreal. CCF had returned to Canada in 2000.
- 2002 HSBC Holdings merges its Canadian and US operations to create a North American transnational bank. HSBC Bank USA of New York, with assets of US$87bn, and HSBC Canada, with assets of C$34bn, will share some operating resources but remain separate units.
