Disposal in South Africa

HSBC Holdings PLC
15 March 2005


              HSBC TO SELL PRIVATE CLIENT BUSINESS IN SOUTH AFRICA
                                  TO INVESTEC

HSBC Investment Services (Africa) (Pty) Limited has agreed to sell its private 
client stockbroking, wealth management and portfolio management business in 
South Africa to Investec Limited. The deal is subject to regulatory approval.

The business had a net asset value of R17.3 million (US$3.01 million), 
approximately R2.9 billion (US$514 million) in funds under management and 
R12.1 billion (US$2.15 billion) in funds under administration at 31 December 
2004, and currently has 39 employees.

Richard Adcock, HSBC's CEO for Sub-Saharan Africa, said: "HSBC established a 
branch in South Africa just over a year ago, serving corporate and institutional
banking clients. We remain committed to the country but have made the strategic 
decision to concentrate on the Corporate, Investment Banking and Markets 
business. While this means that offering domestic private client services is no
longer part of our long-term goal in South Africa, we are delighted that 
Investec will be taking on our clients and staff."

Notes to editors:

1. HSBC in South Africa
HSBC established a presence in Sub-Saharan Africa in 1981 and entered the South 
African market in 1995. In 2003, the Group expanded its regional services with 
the opening of a corporate and institutional bank in Johannesburg as a branch of
HSBC Bank plc. The Johannesburg branch now acts as the regional management 
office for all of HSBC's Sub-Saharan Africa activities. The two primary 
operating entities in South Africa are HSBC Bank plc, which offers corporate and
institutional banking, investment banking, treasury and capital markets services
to the HSBC Group's major multinational clients, large local corporate and 
financial institutions, and governments. Equities and research services are 
provided by HSBC Securities (South Africa) (Pty) Limited. The Group currently 
has 11 offices in South Africa.

2. The HSBC Group
HSBC Holdings plc is headquartered in the UK. The HSBC Group serves over 110 
million customers worldwide from over 9,800 offices in 77 countries and 
territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the Americas, the Middle East 
and Africa. With assets of US$1,277 billion at 31 December 2004, HSBC is one of 
the world's largest banking and financial services organisations. HSBC is 
marketed worldwide as 'the world's local bank'.



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