News Release

George Varino and Hiten Shah Join HSBC Halbis Partners Fixed-Income Team

14 September 2006

HSBC today announced two senior hires within its fixed-income team with George Varino and Hiten H. Shah joining HSBC Halbis Partners (USA), Inc. in New York.

Varino has joined as fixed-income product specialist and will lead product management for U.S. and global fixed-income strategies. He will report to Gregg Diliberto, chief executive officer and global head of fixed income. Most recently, Varino was global head of fixed-income product management at Franklin Templeton Investments. Prior to this, he was head of fixed-income research at Callan Associates. Varino has more than 13 years of professional experience in institutional investment management.

Shah has joined as a senior portfolio manager of the HSBC Halbis global fixed-income team and is responsible for interest rate and derivatives strategies. He reports to David Fisher, head of global fixed income. Shah has spent the last two years as a proprietary trader for Société Générale in New York. Previously, he spent seven years as a portfolio manager at G.E. Asset Management, responsible for G7 rates and currencies. Shah has more than 11 years of portfolio management experience.

"These senior appointments further strengthen what is already a strong and experienced team," said Diliberto. "This is further evidence of our commitment to being leaders in fixed income."

Media Contacts

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