HSBC SELLS AUSTRALIAN UNIT

HSBC Holdings PLC
21 March 2005



                     HSBC SELLS AUSTRALIAN ASSET MANAGEMENT
                   BUSINESS TO CHALLENGER FINANCIAL SERVICES

HSBC has entered into an agreement to sell its Australian asset management
subsidiary, HSBC Asset Management (Australia) Limited (AMAU), to Challenger
Financial Services Group Limited (Challenger) for a consideration of A$21.9
million (approximately US$17.4 million).

Based in Melbourne, AMAU had funds under management of A$3.5 billion at
end-2004. It has been providing investment advice to clients since 1981,
offering a range of products including unit trusts, wholesale funds, personal
superannuation and allocated pensions.

Challenger, headquartered in Sydney, is a financial services company focused on
three core businesses including life insurance (annuities), funds management and
administration and mortgage financing.

Blair Pickerell, Chief Executive Asia-Pacific of HSBC Asset Management, said:
"Our new global strategy for investment management places a strong emphasis on
the development of best-in-class investment solutions, incorporating 'open
architecture' when appropriate. To succeed, we will need to focus on the
strongest of our global investment capabilities. In Australia, we have decided
to focus on developing investment solutions based on an 'open architecture'
platform, rather than in-house investment management."

Completion of the transaction is subject to obtaining the necessary regulatory
approvals.

Notes to editors

1. HSBC Asset Management Services
HSBC Asset Management Services (AMS) is the name used to describe the core and
associated specialist asset management companies of the HSBC Group. AMS
companies provide investment management solutions to institutional, corporate
and financial intermediary clients worldwide. Companies within AMS are HSBC
Asset Management, the core global business, plus the companies dedicated to
specialist areas. These include Sinopia for quantitative, structured and
guaranteed investment solutions, HSBC Specialist Investments for property and
infrastructure investments, HSBC Alternative Investments for single-manager
alternative investment strategies, and HSBC Multimanager, offering independent
fund selection and fund of fund management services. AMS companies have funds
under management of US$222 billion at 31 December 2004.

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'.

3. Challenger Financial Services Group Limited
Challenger Financial Services Group Limited is an Australian domiciled, publicly
listed financial services company. Challenger is comprised of three core
businesses, Challenger Life, Challenger Wholesale Finance and Challenger Wealth
Management. Assets under management and administration totalled A$28.3 billion
at 31 December 2004.




                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange