Results of General Meeting

RNS Number : 1440P

HSBC Holdings PLC

19 March 2009

 



NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION, PUBLICATION OR RELEASE, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO CANADA, INDONESIA, JAPAN, MEXICO, THE KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA, SOUTH KOREA, SWITZERLAND, TURKEY, THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH THE DISTRIBUTION, PUBLICATION OR RELEASE WOULD BE UNLAWFUL. OTHER RESTRICTIONS MAY BE APPLICABLE. PLEASE SEE  THE IMPORTANT NOTICE AT THE END OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. 

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited and The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited take no responsibility for the contents of this announcement, make no representation as to its accuracy or completeness and expressly disclaim any liability whatsoever for any loss howsoever arising from or in reliance upon the whole or any part of the contents of this announcement. The Ordinary Shares trade under stock code 5 on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited. 

19 March 2009 

HSBC Holdings plc

Results of General Meeting, despatch of Provisional Allotment Letters and lifting of suspension of removals between registers

Results of General Meeting

At the General Meeting of HSBC Holdings plc (HSBC) held on Thursday 19 March 2009 in connection with its 5 for 12 rights issue (the Rights Issue) all the Resolutions proposed in the circular to shareholders dated 3 March 2009 were passed on a poll. 

The results of the poll on each Resolution are set out below: 

Resolution	Total Votes For (%)	Total Votes Against (%)	Withheld*
1. To increase the authorised ordinary share capital	5,254,691,415  (99.40%)	31,694,321   (0.60%)	12,356,062
2. To give the Directors the authority to allot the New Ordinary Shares in connection with the Rights Issue	5,213,207,317   (99.05%)	50,209,768   (0.95%)	27,846,336
3. To disapply pre-emption rights, where necessary, in connection with the Rights Issue (Special Resolution)	4,883,607,464   (92.91%)	372,863,036   (7.09%)	34,828,118

* A 'Vote Withheld' is not a vote in law and is not counted towards the proportion of votes 'For' or 'Against' a resolution

The total number of Ordinary Shares entitling the Shareholders to attend and vote for or against the Resolutions at the General Meeting was 12,144,573,757 Ordinary Shares. The scrutineers of the poll were Electoral Reform Services Limited and Computershare Investor Services PLC.

Resolutions submitted to the UK Listing Authority

Copies of the Resolutions passed at the General Meeting have been submitted to the UK Listing Authority, and will shortly be available for inspection at the UK Listing Authority's Document Viewing Facility situated at:

The Financial Services Authority

25 The North Colonnade
Canary Wharf

London E14 5HS

Despatch of Provisional Allotment Letters 

It is expected that Provisional Allotment Letters in relation to the New Ordinary Shares to be issued pursuant to the Rights Issue will be posted to Qualifying Non-CREST Shareholders, Qualifying Non-CCASS Shareholders and Qualifying Bermuda Shareholders later today. 

Lifting of suspension of removals between registers

The suspension of removals of Ordinary Shares to or from the principal register in the United Kingdom and/or overseas branch registers of shareholders in Hong Kong and Bermuda will be lifted from 8.00 a.m. (UK time) on Friday 20 March 2009 in London, 9.00 a.m. (Bermuda time) on Friday 20 March 2009 in Bermuda and from 4.30 p.m. (Hong Kong time) on Friday 20 March 2009 in Hong Kong. 

Unless otherwise defined in this announcement, capitalised terms shall have the meaning given to them in the Prospectus. 

By Order of the Board

R G Barber

Group Company Secretary

Contacts

For further information please contact:

HSBC Holdings plc:

London:                                                                        Hong Kong:

Richard Beck                 [phone]         David Hall       [phone]

Director of Group Communications                          Head of Group Public Affairs (Asia)

Goldman Sachs International:

Matthew Westerman     [phone]

Todd Leland                   [phone]

J.P. Morgan Cazenove:

Naguib Kheraj                [phone]

Ian Hannam                    [phone]

HSBC Bank plc:

Russell Julius                 [phone]

The Board of Directors of HSBC Holdings plc as at the date of this announcement are: S K Green, M F Geoghegan, S A Catz†, V H C Cheng, M K T Cheung†, J D Coombe†, J L Durán†, R A Fairhead†, D J Flint, A A Flockhart, W K L Fung*, S T Gulliver, J W J Hughes-Hallett†, W S H Laidlaw†, J R Lomax†, Sir Mark Moody-Stuart†, G Morgan†, N R N Murthy†, S M Robertson†, J L Thornton† and Sir Brian Williamson†.

* Non-executive Director

† Independent non-executive Director

It is expected that UK Admission will take place and that the dealings in the New Ordinary  Shares (nil paid) on the London Stock Exchange's main market will commence at 8.00 a.m. (UK time) on 20 March 2009 in London and that HK Admission will take place at 9:30 a.m. (Hong Kong time) on 20 March 2009 and that the dealings in the New Ordinary Shares (nil paid) will commence at 9.30 a.m. (Hong Kong time) on 23 March 2009 in Hong Kong. It is expected that Nil Paid Rights will be credited to the stock accounts of Qualifying CREST Shareholders and enabled in CREST as soon as practicable after 8.00 a.m.  (UK time) on 20 March 2009 and to stock accounts of Qualifying CCASS Shareholders by 9.30 a.m. (Hong Kong time) on 23 March 2009.

This announcement has been issued by and is the sole responsibility of HSBC. This announcement shall not constitute an offer to sell, an invitation to induce an offer or a solicitation of an offer to buy or subscribe for securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities referred to in these materials, in any jurisdiction, including the United States, in which such offer, invitation, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of such jurisdiction. HSBC has filed a registration statement in the United States under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), in connection with the offer and sale of the securities. A written prospectus satisfying the requirements of Section 10 of the Securities Act and containing the detailed terms of the Rights Issue is available on the United States Securities and Exchange Commission's website at www.sec.gov, or may be obtained from HSBC Holdings plc, 8 Canada Square, London E14 5HQ, United Kingdom or c/o HSBC Bank USA, National Association, 452 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10018, United States, Attention: Regional Compliance Officer.

Goldman Sachs International, J.P. Morgan Cazenove, J.P. Morgan and HSBC Bank plc, which are each authorised and regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial Services Authority, are acting for HSBC and are acting for no one else in connection with the Rights Issue and will not regard any other person as a client in relation to the Rights Issue and will not be responsible to anyone other than HSBC for providing the protections afforded to their respective clients, nor for providing advice in connection with the Rights Issue or any other matter, transaction or arrangement referred to herein.

This announcement is not a prospectus or an extract from, a summary or abridged version of a prospectus but an advertisement and is for information purposes only and does not constitute or form part of any offer or invitation to sell, or an invitation to induce an offer or issue, or any solicitation of any offer to acquire Nil Paid Rights, Fully Paid Rights or New Ordinary Shares or to take up any entitlements to New Ordinary Shares in any jurisdiction in which such an offer or solicitation is unlawful. Investors should not acquire any Nil Paid Rights, Fully Paid Rights or New Ordinary Shares except on the basis of information contained in the Prospectus.

The distribution of this announcement, the Prospectus and/or the Provisional Allotment Letters and/or the transfer of Nil Paid Rights, Fully Paid Rights and/or New Ordinary Shares into a jurisdiction other than the United Kingdom, Hong Kong or Bermuda may be restricted by law and therefore persons into whose possession this announcement and/or any related documents comes should inform themselves about and observe any such restrictions. Any failure to comply with any such restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities laws of any such jurisdictions. In particular, subject to certain exceptions as agreed with the Company and certain of the Banks, this announcement should not be distributed, forwarded to or transmitted in, into or from any of the Excluded Territories.

None of the Nil Paid Rights, the Fully Paid Rights, the Provisional Allotment Letter and the New Ordinary Shares will be registered under the securities laws of any of the Excluded Territories and none of the Nil Paid Rights, the Fully Paid Rights or the New Ordinary Shares will qualify for distribution under any of the relevant securities laws of any of the Excluded Territories (other than pursuant to any applicable exceptions as agreed with the Company and certain of the Banks). Accordingly, the Nil Paid Rights, the Fully Paid Rights and the New Ordinary Shares may not be offered, sold, pledged, taken up, exercised, resold, renounced, transferred or delivered, directly or indirectly, within any of the Excluded Territories (other than pursuant to any applicable exceptions as agreed with the Company and certain of the Banks).

In particular, this announcement is not for distribution or release, directly or indirectly in or into Canada, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, South Korea,  Switzerland, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates or any other jurisdiction in which the distribution or release would be unlawful.

Neither the content of HSBC's website nor any website accessible by hyperlinks on HSBC's website is incorporated in, or forms part of, this announcement.

References to the Prospectus in this announcement are to the prospectus published by HSBC on 17 March 2009.

 

END

 

 

ROMSFMFEUSUSEID