Headquartered in London, HSBC is one of the largest banking and
financial services organisations in the world. HSBC operates from around 9,500 offices in 86 countries and territories
in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the Americas, the Middle East and
Africa. HSBC provides a comprehensive range of financial services: personal
financial services; commercial banking; corporate, investment banking
and markets; private banking; and other activities.
With listings on the London, Hong Kong, New York, Paris and Bermuda
stock exchanges, shares in HSBC Holdings plc are held by around 200,000
shareholders in some 100 countries and territories. The shares are
traded on the New York Stock Exchange in the form of American
Depositary Receipts. The HSBC
Group is named after its founding member, The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking
Corporation Limited, which was established in 1865 to finance the growing trade
between China and Europe.
ownership
listed on Bermuda Stock Exchange, Hong Kong Stock Exchange, London Stock Exchange, NYSE Euronext
headquarters
8 Canada Square
E14 5HQ London
United Kingdom
position top 1000 the Banker
In million US$. Ranking according to Tier 1 capital, as per definition Bank of International Settlements (BIS)
The CDP impels organisations to record their carbon footprint in daily activities. Encouraging enterprises to calculate and disclose their carbon impact, this initiative highlights the challenge for financial institutions to determine exactly how much carbon output can be attributed to financing.
Voluntary framework to guide the finance sector in tackling the challenge of climate change. They address the management of operational greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and provide direction on managing climate change in research activities; asset management; retail banking; insurance & re-insurance; corporate banking; investment banking & markets; project finance.
The EPs are a set of guidelines, based upon the Performance Standards and guidelines from the IFC, the World Bank's private sector lending arm for private banks to asesses and mitigate risks in project finance. Banks use the Principles to guide internal operating procedures for transaction for specific projects. Although the EPs are an important step to raise overall standards of financiers and projects in the developing world, they currently fall short on transparency and governance requirements.
The verification and full publication of company payments and government revenues from oil, gas and mining is supported by the EITI. Financial institutions can participate and encourage resource-rich countries to support the initiative that aims to defeat poverty, corruption and conflict caused by weak transparency and accountability.
As the name suggests, the GRI aims to standardise good practice in transparency. GRI provides companies with guidelines to organise their annual report with reporting indices and standards addressing environmental, social and economic issues that business ought to address when telling the world about its performance.
The UN Global Compact is a set of ten principles that companies may sign voluntarily. Signatories promise to avoid complicity in human rights violations, adhere to labour standards, protect the environment and avoid corruption. The G8 countries urge companies to participate in this initiative, and with over 2900 companies signing up, the Global Compact has momentum. A voluntary and network based framework, the Global Compact actively promotes peer review and stakeholder participation.
UNEP is the 'voice of the environment' for the United Nations system, promoting international cooperation in the field of the environment. Issues concerning the financial community are addressed by the UNEP Finance Initiative which promotes investment in clean and renewable energy by financial institutions and other investors. Financial insititutions wishing to join must sign one of two Statements (for financial institutions and a separate one for the insurance industry).
UNPRI is a set of six principles direct institutional investors may adopt to consider environmental, social and corporate governance issues when investing. Voluntary and aspirational in nature, UNPRI has since its inception in 2006 attracted 200 signatories, representing US$8 trillion worth of investments.
Since the turn of the century a group of twelve banks known as the Wolfsberg Group have collaborated to improve ethical standards. The principles provide guidance on money laundering, corruption and the financing of terrorism. They have been produced to address deficiencies in areas 'yet to be fully articulated by lawmakers or regulators'.
Summary of the banks sectoral policy covering all lending, financing, equity, etc. activities in forestry, logging; timber processing and trading; pulp and paper; timber, soy, rubber, oil palm plantations.
HSBC
Environmental Risk Standard is a very general
document giving examples of sectors where the bank seeks to minimise
environmental, credit and reputational risk. But no detailed criteria for such
risk assessments are given and thus the policy is not accredited points
agriculture
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1
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5
arms industry and trade
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1
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5
fisheries
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1
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5
forestry
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1
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5
mining
0
1
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5
oil and gas
0
1
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5
power generation
0
1
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5
biodiversity
0
1
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5
climate change
0
1
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5
corruption
0
1
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5
human rights
0
1
2
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5
indigenous peoples
0
1
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3
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5
labour
0
1
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4
5
operation in conflict zones
0
1
2
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5
taxation
0
1
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3
4
5
toxics
0
1
2
3
4
5
accountability
0
1
2
3
4
5
transparency
0
1
2
3
4
5
headquarters
8 Canada Square
E14 5HQ London
United Kingdom
position top 1000 the Banker
In million US$. Ranking according to Tier 1 capital, as per definition Bank of International Settlements (BIS)
On October 5th, 2004 an official agreement was signed between the Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC) and Sterlite Industries, a subsidiary of Vedanta Resources plc, for the…
The Belene nuclear power plant (NPP) is planned to be sited at the bank of the Danube River, which forms the border between Bulgaria and Romania. Technical design and construction…
In the Canadian Boreal forest just downstream of the eastern foothills of the Rocky Mountains are the Canadian tar sands. The region contains some 2 trillion barrels of oil,…
Cluster munitions pose a serious threat to civilian populations during and after a conflict. Cluster munitions are designed to blanket a large area containing one or more…
The United States Geological Survey estimates that 30% of the world's undiscovered gas and 13% of the world's undiscovered oil is to be found north of the Arctic Circle.…
The Jaitapur project plans to host two European Pressurised Reactors (EPRs) of 1,650 MWe each, with possible extension by four additional units. The Generation III+ class…
The Kusile coal fired power plant project is located in the province of Mpumalanga, in South Africa. With 4800MW, it will be one of the largest power plants of its kind in…
HidroAysén - owned by European company Endesa and Chilean company Colbun - plans to dam two of Chile's most powerful and pristine rivers, the Baker and Pascua Rivers.…
The ‘Shwe' (meaning ‘golden' in Burmese) projects entail exploitation of underwater natural gas deposits off the coast of western Burma's Arakan State and dual…
Ecuador's Yasuni National Park is threatened by planned oil development by the Brazilian oil company Petrobras. The oil development will take place in Block 31, two thirds…
The Grasberg mine, located in the indonesian province of Papua, on the island New Guinea, just north of Australia, is being run by the mining company Freeport McMoran. The…
Toka Tindung is about 35 km north east of Manado, the capital of the Indonesian Province of North Sulawesi. The project entails the development of six open-pit gold mines…
BankTrack has identified controversial issues
with the companies listed below that require attention from HSBC.
E.on
E.ON is a German electricity company headquartered in Düsseldorf and is another of big beasts of energy production. E.ON operates along the entire value chain of power…
Freeport McMoRan is an international mining company with headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona. Freeport McMoran operates primarily in copper-, gold- and molybdenum mines.Freeport…
Recently, two big European electricity utilities, GDF Suez and International Power, have signed a memorandum of understanding to establish the largest independent electricity…
India's National Hydroelectric Power Corporation has made a name for itself as one of the country's most ruthless corporations. As a state-owned company, NHPC has been able…
As Europe's second largest electricity generator and one of Europe's five leading gas and electricity companies, this German utility is another of energy and gas production's…
The Samling group, which is based in the Malaysian state of Sarawak on Borneo, is one of Malaysia's biggest logging companies and responsible for the ongoing destruction…
Textron is a multi-industry company, consisting of numerous subsidiaries and operating units. One subsidiary is Textron Systems, which is active in the defence, homeland…
Vedanta Resources is a mining company. It produces aluminum, copper, lead and zinc. Vedanta has a strong position in India, where its founder Anil Agarwal was born, but is…
Rapport - Les banques sous pression citoyenne : l'heure de rendre des comptes
Nov 02, 2011 | Les Amis de la Terre / Attac France
Evaluates the practices of the 10 main banking groups operating in France in five areas of their activity : financial stability, their users-customers, their employees, the environment and democracy.
Synthèse - Les banques sous pression citoyenne : l’heure de rendre des comptes
Nov 02, 2011 | Les Amis de la Terre/Attac
Evaluates the practices of the 10 main banking groups operating in France in five areas of their activity : financial stability, their users-customers, their employees, the environment and democracy.
Apr 01, 2010 | Netwerk Vlaanderen, IKV PAX Christi
A short version of the 'Hall of Fame and runners-up'-document. Both taken from the report: "Worldwide Investments in Cluster Munitions; A Shared Responsibility" Updated April 2010.
Cashing in on coal: RBS, UK banks and the global coal industry
Aug 01, 2008 | Platform
Report on the role in the last two years of the (RBS), HSBC and Barclays in providing and arranging the financial means to the coal industry to extract and burn vast quant
In this fact sheet, you will find 3 original documents concerning the seismic risks of the Belene nuclear power plant (Belene NPP) project. Two of them date from the original planning phase of the nuclear power station and conclude that the Belene site is unsuitable, The last one from the Environmental Impact Assessment…
Summary of the banks sectoral policy covering all lending, financing, equity, etc. activities in forestry, logging; timber processing and trading; pulp and paper; timber, soy, rubber, oil palm plantations.
HSBC and the Palm Oil Sector in South East Asia: Towards accountability
Nov 20, 2008 | Forest Peoples Programme with Profundo
The report finds that HSBC is a key player in the palm oil sector; criticises the lack of transparency in HSBC's finaincing; and calls upon HSBC to put pressure on its client companies in the palm oil sector to end the violations of forest peoples’ rights and to behave more responsibly towards the environment.
Letter to BankTrack as a response to BT letter of February 11, 2010
Mar 29, 2010 | Equator Principles Financial Insititutions, Citi
The first response ever to one of the letters BankTrack sent to the Equator Principles Financial Insititutions. It is a response to the BankTrack follow up letter after the meeting in Zuerich, February 4.
Using the 2011 Global Investor Statement on Climate Change, investors will advocate for investment grade climate change and energy policies at the national and international level.
Draft Viewpoint of the Commission in accordance with Article 43 of the Euratom Treaty concerning the investment project for the construction of a new nuclear power plant "Belene", Bulgaria
Jan 04, 2012 - 2011 was the year full of controversies. Our cyber satire unveils banks and bankers that talk green but invest in climate killer coal fired power plants.
Shameful investments: banks still funding cluster bombs
Oct 05, 2010 - Cluster bombs are banned under the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions, but 138 banks and other financial institutions are still investing over $20 billion USD in the producers of these indiscriminate weapons. Activists paid a visit to 2 of the top banks investing in cluster bombs in the UK, Barclays and HSBC, to call on them to disinvest.
www.stopexplosiveinvestments.org
headquarters
8 Canada Square
E14 5HQ London
United Kingdom
position top 1000 the Banker
In million US$. Ranking according to Tier 1 capital, as per definition Bank of International Settlements (BIS)
International website developed by BankTrack, CRBM, Les Amis de la Terre, Netwerk Vlaanderen, Platform, Setem and Urgewald.
Information in English, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Spanish.
