Board Appointment

HSBC Holdings PLC
29 September 2006



                               HSBC HOLDINGS PLC
                               BOARD APPOINTMENT

Gwyn Morgan (60) has been appointed a Director of HSBC Holdings plc with effect
from 1 October 2006.

Mr Morgan, an independent non-executive Director, was Founding President and
Chief Executive Officer of EnCana Corporation. He is currently Vice-Chairman. He
is also a Director of SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. and Alcan Inc. He is former
President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Alberta Energy Company
Limited.

There is no other information relating to the appointment of Mr Morgan required
to be disclosed in relation to Listing Rule 9.6.13(2) to (6).

A brief biography for Mr Morgan follows:

                                  Gwyn Morgan
                                        
Gwyn Morgan has been appointed to the Board as an independent non-executive
Director of HSBC Holdings plc with effect from 1 October 2006.

Mr Morgan was Founding President and Chief Executive Officer of EnCana
Corporation. In January 2006, he retired as Chief Executive Officer to assume
the post of Vice-Chairman. He is a Director of SNC-Lavalin Group Inc., and Alcan
Inc. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of The Fraser Institute and the
Energy Advisory Board of Accenture Limited. He is a former independent
non-executive Director of HSBC Bank Canada.

He joined EnCana Corporation's predecessor Alberta Energy Company Limited (AEC)
in 1975. He was responsible for drilling the wells which resulted in AEC's first
production and was head of the Oil and Gas Division until his appointment as
President, Chief Executive Officer and Director in 1994. In 2002, he led the
merger of two of Canada's largest oil and gas firms to create EnCana
Corporation.

Mr Morgan is a petroleum engineering graduate of the University of Alberta. He
has post graduate qualifications including the executive business programme of
Cornell University in New York State. He is a Fellow of The Canadian Academy of
Engineering. In 2005, he was recognised as Canada's chief executive officer of
the year^ and was also voted Canada's most respected chief executive officer^^.

He is married and has one daughter. In his spare time he enjoys cross-training,
cycling, kayaking and ski-ing.
_____________________________________________________________________
Footnotes:

^ Canada's Outstanding CEO of the Year award programme, founded by The Caldwell
  Partners.

^^ The 11th Annual Canada's Most Respected Corporations Survey sponsored by KPMG
   and conducted by Ipsos Reid.


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