News Release

Gerardo Mato and James Rossman Named Co-Heads of Global Capital Markets for the Americas

David Noble Promoted to Head of Equity Capital Markets, Americas

12 June 2006

HSBC today announced the appointment of Gerardo Mato and James Rossman as co-heads of global capital markets for the Americas effective immediately. They will report to Daniel Palmer, head of global capital markets, and Joseph Belfatto who will become head of global markets, Americas in August. 

Mato joined HSBC as head of Latin America financing in 2002. Prior to this, he held similar positions at Merrill Lynch and Citigroup. Rossman joined HSBC in 2005 as head of equity capital markets for the Americas. Before joining HSBC, he served as head of equity capital markets at Lazard.

HSBC also announced it has promoted David Noble to head of equity capital markets for the Americas. Noble joined HSBC in 2005 from Lehman Brothers.

In Latin America, HSBC has gone from a non-ranked debt capital markets player in 2003 to a top underwriter of international and local Latin American bonds. HSBC has made gains in its league table position and volume of issuance for US corporate bonds. It ranked eighth for investment grade US issuance in 2005 and currently ranks tenth in 2006 year-to-date U.S. IPO league tables based on Bloomberg data.

HSBC's capital markets business provides borrowers access to the following markets: corporate bonds, financial institution bonds, securitization and structured bond financing, sovereign bonds/loans and equity capital markets.

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