News Release

Joseph Belfatto to Succeed Joseph Petri as Head of Global Markets for the Americas

5 June 2006

HSBC today announced the appointment of Joseph Belfatto as head of Global Markets, Americas reporting to Michael Powell, head of Global Markets for HSBC's Corporate, Investment Banking and Markets (CIBM) division.  Belfatto succeeds Joseph Petri in this role who is retiring from HSBC in early August. 

Belfatto joined HSBC in 2002 as head of Global Markets sales for the Americas and assumed additional responsibility for HSBC's global equities business in March 2005.  Prior to joining HSBC, he spent 17 years at Merrill Lynch.  Belfatto will be succeeded as global head of equities by Simon Brookhouse who joined HSBC as deputy head of equities in April this year from Merrill Lynch.

Petri joined HSBC in New York in 2000 as head of sales for markets.  In 2001, he was appointed treasurer of HSBC Bank, USA prior to taking up his current role as head of Global Markets, Americas in 2002.

HSBC has also announced the appointments of Benjamin Welsh as deputy head of Global Markets, North America and Jose-Luis Guerrero as deputy head of Global Markets, Latin America.  In his new role, Welsh will be responsible for foreign exchange, metals and rates businesses. He joined HSBC in 2003 as head of foreign exchange, Americas from Goldman Sachs and in 2005 also assumed responsibility for HSBC's global metals business.  Guerrero joined HSBC in 2004 to oversee Latin American fixed-income sales, trading and treasury activities.

Michael Powell said, "Under Joe Petri's leadership, our Global Markets business has made great progress in the Americas and is now firmly established as a significant participant in financial markets in the region.  The experience of the new management team under Joe Belfatto will enable us to build on the strong foundation already in place."

About HSBC: 
The HSBC Group serves over 125 million customers worldwide.  It has around 9,500 offices in 76 countries and territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa. 

HSBC Corporate, Investment Banking and Markets (CIBM) provides tailored financial products and services to major government, corporate and institutional clients. Within client-focused business lines, Global Banking, Global Markets and Global Transaction Banking, CIBM offers a full range of capabilities, including foreign exchange, fixed income, derivatives, risk advisory, corporate and investment banking, payments and cash management, trade services, and securities services.  CIBM operates in the U.S. via HSBC Bank USA, National Association and HSBC Securities (USA) Inc. For more information on CIBM, please visit www.hsbcnet.com.

Media Contacts

• Juanita Gutierrez
• Juanita.gutierrez@us.hsbc.com
• HSBC - North America
• 212.525.6282