Ooops, didn't even know they had a branch at Parkwood, only seen the one on Victoria St.

Good, it's like 10,000 lawyers at the bottom of the ocean (a good start)
metalman.

Good! No more phone calls offering to lend me money so I can get out of debt. Leeches!

I believe the initials stand for Hong Kong Shanghai Bank of Canada. Hong Kong? Shanghai? China? Human Rights? Political? Hmmmm? Never mind.

Tienaman square 1989 Harb?
metalman.

HSBC Finance�s profitability will remain pressured as the balance sheet continues to decline, while the uncertainty as to the severity and duration of the recession in the U.S. and increasing unemployment and personal bankruptcies are likely to result in credit costs remaining elevated in the near term further pressuring earnings.

HSBC Finance�s results continue to be impacted by the ongoing deterioration in the U.S. economy, rising unemployment and the ongoing decline in home prices. For the year ending December 31, 2008, HSBC Finance reported a net loss of $2.8 billion. This loss was largely driven by continued increases in loan loss provisions and lower overall net interest income due to a reduced balance sheet. Importantly, the year�s results were positively impacted from a pretax $2.0 billion, gain on the fair value of its outstanding debt that is designated at fair value and related derivatives.

As with everything in life, it is all based on association and perception. Hong Kong, Shanghai, China, by association, and perception depending on yer point of view of the world in general. I am not casting aspersions on anything or anyone. I'm just sayin......

Quit talking nonsense harb. In HSBC's case, it's all about their costs to borrow in order to lend, and people's ability to pay back what they borrow with HSBC's interest rates.
Bankruptcy's are ever rising so HSBC's balance sheet is way out of whack. Hence the closures.

Despite the name, I believe the parent company is historically 'British'.

Whatever.

HSBC was the bank of the Empire loyalist for the British... it was the bank that funded the opium trade in China, where it made its original fortunes. Its a Rothschilds front bank that drove the empire polices of the British and is a conduit for the elite banksters to conduct business outside of the law without paying taxes.

I pulled all my money out of that bank when I found out about the Al-Yamamah oil- for-weapons deal between BAE and the Saudi Royal Family worth over $40 billion dollars. A deal that involved Royal Dutch Shell and British Petroleum where oil was used to pay for weapons in a trade that was facilitated by HSBC so as to avoid violating global arms trade agreements and avoid paying any taxes on their illegal transactions. HSBC was the same company working similar deals with Saddam's Iraq during the oil embargo of the 90's.

Some say the Al Yamamah deal is the source of funding and arms for most of the global terror networks today associated with Islam and used against western nations to restrict our civil liberties.

IMO HSBC is a criminal enterprise that has done much to harm humanity and any dollar they make off of you is another dollar they can utilize to support their criminal activity.