BEST BANK
HSBC
BEST EQUITY HOUSE
Goldman Sachs
BEST DEBT HOUSE
HSBC
BEST M&A HOUSE
UBS
HSBC wins the best bank in Hong Kong award again. The bank is completely dominant in its own right in Hong Kong, even before any contribution from subsidiary Hang Seng Bank is included.
HSBC has the largest retail banking network in the territory, and leads in almost all retail products, including pensions, bancassurance, credit cards and online banking. With a 22.8% market share of deposits, 10.5% of consumer finance and almost one-third of all credit card finance, HSBC is clearly the market leader in retail banking, where it earns some 41% of its profits. However, in treasury and risk management, corporate banking, local debt financing, trade services custody and ancillary services, HSBC also leads the competition by the widest of margins.
The bank's complete dominance of its local market is clearly a key contributing factor to its impressive financial ratios. With operating profit for 2004 at $3.33 billion, up 24% on the previous year, a cost-to-income ratio of just below 40%, a return on equity of 27.5% and a total capital ratio of 11.9%, there is simply nowhere that HSBC is weak in Hong Kong.