Press Release

HSBC Opens Rowland Heights Branch Charter

12 May 2003

New York, NY – HSBC Bank USA has opened a new branch at 18250 Colima Road in Rowland Heights, California. This is the third branch that HSBC has opened in the Los Angeles area. It will be open Monday-Thursday, 9:00 a.m. 5:00 p.m., Friday 10:00 a.m. 6:00 p.m., and Saturday 10:00 a.m. 2:00 p.m.

To meet the needs of the surrounding community, all branch staff are bilingual, speaking both English and either Cantonese or Mandarin. Branch amenities include a 24-hour ATM, bilingual telephone customer service, customer parking, safe-deposit boxes, and access to bilingual discount brokerage services by telephone.

"HSBCs hallmark is our ability to understand and meet the needs of the communities that we serve in California and around the world," noted Eddie Wang, Regional President, West Coast, HSBC Bank USA. "We look forward to serving the Rowland Heights community as well as becoming an integral part of it."

In addition to the new Rowland Heights branch, HSBC currently maintains branches in San Francisco, Oakland, Encino, and Beverly Hills.