HSBC Hldng Board Appointments

HSBC Holdings PLC
28 January 2005


                     HSBC HOLDINGS PLC - BOARD APPOINTMENTS


John Coombe (59) and James Hughes-Hallett (55) have been appointed Directors of
HSBC Holdings plc with effect from 1 March 2005.

Mr Coombe, an independent non-executive Director, has also been appointed to the
Group Audit Committee of HSBC Holdings plc with effect from 1 July 2005. He is
Chief Financial Officer of GlaxoSmithKline plc, a position he has held since
December 2000 following Glaxo Holdings' merger with SmithKline Beecham. Mr
Coombe joined Glaxo Holdings as Group Financial Controller in 1986.

Mr Hughes-Hallett, an independent non-executive Director, is Chairman of John
Swire & Sons Limited. He joined the Swire Group in 1976 and, before taking up
his current role, was based in Hong Kong as Chairman of Swire Pacific Ltd,
Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd and John Swire & Sons (HK) Ltd.

Pursuant to Rule 16.4(a) of the Listing Rules the details of publicly quoted
companies held currently and in the past five years are:

   •John Coombe is a director of GlaxoSmithKline plc and Siemens AG; and
   •James Hughes-Hallett is a director of Cathay Pacific Airways Limited and
    Swire Pacific Limited.

There are no matters relating to the appointment of these directors which need
to be disclosed pursuant to Rule 16.4(b) of the Listing Rules.

Brief biographical details of the new directors follow.


Note to editors:

The HSBC Group

HSBC Holdings plc is headquartered in the UK. The HSBC Group serves over 110
million customers worldwide from approximately 10,000 offices in 76 countries
and territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the Americas, the Middle
East and Africa. With assets of US$1,154 billion at 30 June 2004, HSBC is one of
the world's largest banking and financial services organisations. HSBC is
marketed worldwide as 'the world's local bank'.


                                  John Coombe
                  Chief Financial Officer, GlaxoSmithKline plc

John Coombe is Chief Financial Officer of GlaxoSmithKline plc. He has been
appointed to the Board as an independent non-executive Director of HSBC Holdings
plc with effect from 1 March 2005, and to the Group Audit Committee with effect
from 1 July 2005.

Mr Coombe joined Glaxo Holdings as Group Financial Controller in 1986 and was
appointed to the Board in July 1992 as executive Director responsible for
finance. He subsequently assumed responsibility for investor relations.
Following the merger with SmithKline Beecham in December 2000 he was appointed
to the Board of GlaxoSmithKline plc as Chief Financial Officer. Mr Coombe is to
retire from GlaxoSmithKline plc on 31 March 2005, when he reaches the age of 60.

Mr Coombe joined the chartered accountants, Dixon Wilson & Co, in 1966 and
qualified three years later. He left the firm in 1971 to take up the position of
Management Accountant at British Oxygen Group Limited. In 1973 he joined
Charterhouse Group plc, and was subsequently appointed Group Treasurer, a
position he held until 1984 when he became Finance Manager at Charter
Consolidated plc.

His other business appointments include non-executive Director of the
Supervisory Board of Siemens AG and a member of the Code Committee of the
Takeover Panel. He has been appointed a non-executive Director of GUS plc with
effect from 1 April 2005. Until recently he was a member of the UK Accounting
Standards Board. He is also a trustee of the Royal Academy of Arts where he
chairs the audit committee.

Mr Coombe has a degree in economics and is a Fellow of the Institute of
Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and of the Association of Corporate
Treasurers.

He is married and has three adult daughters. In his spare time he plays golf and
bridge.


                            James W J Hughes-Hallett
                      Chairman, John Swire & Sons Limited

James Hughes-Hallett is Chairman of John Swire & Sons Limited. He has been
appointed to the Board as an independent non-executive Director of HSBC Holdings
plc with effect from 1 March 2005.

Mr Hughes-Hallett joined the Swire Group in 1976. He has held various management
positions in the group's operations in Asia and Australia. He was Managing
Director of John Swire & Sons Pty Ltd in Australia until January 1993, when he
was transferred back to Hong Kong as director responsible for the Swire Group's
ship-owning and consumer trading interests. He became Chairman of John Swire &
Sons (HK) Ltd in 1999 and assumed his current position in December 2004.

Mr Hughes-Hallett is a non-executive Director, and was formerly Chairman, of
Cathay Pacific Airways Limited and Swire Pacific Limited. He was a non-executive
Director of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited from 1999
until November 2004.

Born in 1949, Mr Hughes-Hallett graduated from Oxford University in 1970 with a
degree in English literature. He is a Fellow of the Society of Chartered
Accountants in England & Wales and an Honorary Fellow of The University of Hong
Kong.

He is married with two daughters.




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