Banistmo Completion

HSBC Holdings PLC
23 November 2006



                  HSBC COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF GRUPO BANISTMO

HSBC announced on 20 July 2006 that an agreement had been entered into with
Grupo Banistmo S.A. (Banistmo), the leading banking group in Central America, 
to make a tender offer to acquire all the outstanding shares of Banistmo for 
cash. HSBC has today completed the acquisition of 99.98 per cent of outstanding 
Banistmo shares for a total consideration of approximately US$1.77 billion.

The acquisition of Banistmo complements HSBC's existing operations in the
region, in particular in Panama where HSBC already provides services to personal
and corporate customers through 19 branches.

This acquisition will enable HSBC to better serve the needs of its regional and
international customers. It also establishes a presence in five new markets for
HSBC - Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua - and provides
access to a total population of 83 million people.

Notes to editors:

1. The offer expired at 5:00 pm Panama time on Wednesday, 22 November 2006.
33,623,973 shares, which represent 99.98 per cent of the total capital stock of
Grupo Banistmo, were validly tendered and accepted for payment.

The offer price was US$52.63 per share in cash for each outstanding share. The
total offer consideration to be paid by HSBC for the tendered shares is 
approximately US$1.77 billion.

All conditions for completion of the offer were met and HSBC obtained all the
regulatory approvals required in connection with the offer.

2. HSBC in Panama
HSBC has been present in Panama since 1972. HSBC Bank (Panama) S.A. has 19
branches and 75 ATMs, distributed among the cities of Panama, Colon, Aguadulce,
Chitre and David, providing a full range of banking products and services
including commercial and consumer banking, HSBC Premier, private banking and
corporate banking. In 2005, HSBC Bank (Panama) S.A. acquired the entire share
capital of the Financomer Group in Panama for a cash consideration of
US$21 million.

3. HSBC Holdings plc
The HSBC Group serves over 125 million customers worldwide through some 9,500
offices in 76 countries and territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the
Americas, the Middle East and Africa. With assets of US$1,738 billion
at 30 June 2006, HSBC is one of the world's largest banking and financial
services organisations. HSBC is marketed worldwide as 'the world's local bank'.

4. Grupo Banistmo, S.A.
Grupo Banistmo is the leading banking group in Central America, with operations
in Panama, Colombia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador and Bahamas. 
At 31 December 2005, Grupo Banistmo had assets of US$6,973 million and 
shareholders' funds of US$695 million.



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