Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation

The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (Chinese: 香港上海滙豐銀行有限公司), commonly abbreviated as HSBC (Chinese: 滙豐; lit. 'focus of wealth'; romanized as Wayfoong by the bank) and formerly known as HongkongBank, is the Hong Kong–based Asia-Pacific subsidiary of the British HSBC banking group, for which it was the parent entity until 1991. The largest bank in Hong Kong, HSBC operates branches and offices throughout the Indo-Pacific region and in other countries around the world. It is also one of the three commercial banks licensed by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority to issue banknotes for the Hong Kong dollar. The Hongkong and Shanghai Bank was established in British Hong Kong in 1865 and was incorporated as The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation in 1866, and has been based in Hong Kong (although now as a subsidiary) ever since. It is the founding member of the HSBC group of banks and companies, and, since 1990, is the namesake and one of the leading subsidiaries of the London-based HSBC Holdings. The company's business ranges from the traditional High Street roles of retail banking, commercial banking, corporate banking to investment banking, private banking and global banking.