HSBC acquires Atlantic

HSBC Holdings PLC
13 May 2005




                       HSBC TO ACQUIRE ATLANTIC ADVISORS

HSBC Investments (USA) Inc. is to acquire Atlantic Advisors LLC ('The
Atlantic'), a privately held fixed income investment management company
headquartered in New York City. The transaction is expected to close in the
second quarter of 2005.

The Atlantic is a leading specialist manager of global emerging markets fixed
income products for some of the world's largest corporations as well as
institutional and individual investors. The core portfolio management team of
Peter Marber, Michael Gagliardi and Denise Simon collectively have more than 50
years of experience investing in markets in Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe, Latin
America, the Caribbean and the Middle East. At 31 December 2004, The Atlantic
had assets under management of over US$700 million. The company has a net asset
value of US$1,000^.

As announced on 4 May 2005, and subject to receiving the necessary legal and
regulatory approvals, HSBC is establishing HSBC Halbis Partners, a specialised
investment business, into which it intends to integrate The Atlantic in due
course. Together with other specialist businesses and HSBC Investments, HSBC
Halbis Partners will form part of HSBC's Group Investment Businesses which, at
December 2004, had assets under management of US$224 billion. At December 2004,
the HSBC Group as a whole had assets under management of US$476 billion.

Chris Cheetham, the prospective global CEO of HSBC Halbis Partners, commented:
"This acquisition will significantly enhance HSBC's capabilities and expertise
in managing global emerging markets fixed income portfolios. It is the latest
addition to HSBC's fixed income business, headed by Gregg Diliberto, and gives
us a team of well known professionals with an impressive track record.

"This acquisition also confirms and strengthens our commitment to building HSBC
Halbis Partners into a focused 'alpha' business."

Peter Marber, president of The Atlantic, said: "We're thrilled to join an
institution with a great global platform for our specialised products. With the
company's strong resources and unparalleled commitment to emerging markets, we
couldn't imagine any better partner than HSBC."

^ Figures prepared on the basis of The Atlantic's own accounting policies under
US GAAP.

Notes to editors:

1. HSBC Halbis Partners
HSBC is currently seeking legal and regulatory approvals to establish HSBC
Halbis Partners in the USA and other jurisdictions. Until HSBC Halbis Partners
is created in the USA, it will be a trading name of HSBC Investments (USA) Inc.
HSBC Halbis Partners will be a specialised fundamental active investment
business, focusing on delivering sustainable, value-added performance in
selected areas including fixed income, Asian and emerging markets equities,
European equities, and some alternative strategies. It will have around 200
investment professionals based in London, New York, Paris and Hong Kong.

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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