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Press Release
15 February 2005

HSBC CONTINUES CALIFORNIA EXPANSION; OPENS PASADENA BRANCH

NEW YORK, NY -- HSBC Bank USA, N.A. is continuing its expansion in California and has opened a new branch at 1055 E. Colorado Blvd. With the opening of this branch, HSBC now has eight branches in California, with six in Southern California and two in the San Francisco Bay Area. Branch hours in Pasadena will be 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.

The branch staff is bilingual, speaking either Cantonese or Mandarin, in addition to English to serve the surrounding communitys needs. Branch amenities include a 24-hour ATM, safe-deposit boxes and parking in the building. A financial advisor, mortgage specialist and insurance specialist is available to work with customers to meet their investment, homeownership and insurance needs. A small business relationship manager is also available to support the local business community with a range of banking products, including HSBCs unmatched free business checking account.

"We are extremely excited about our continuing expansion in California and are confident we can help meet the personal and business banking needs of the community," said Allen Naples, Executive Vice President and West Coast Regional President for HSBC Bank USA, N.A. "We take great pride in being the world's local bank and our customers greatly appreciate our ability to individualize our services to meet their unique needs."

Kenneth C. Wang is the manager of the Pasadena branch.
1055 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena
(626) 568-0808

About HSBC Bank USA, National Association
HSBC Bank USA, N.A. has nearly 400 branches in New York State, as well as 11 branches in Florida, eight in California and one branch each in Delaware, Pennsylvania, Washington State, Oregon and Washington, D.C. It is the principal subsidiary of HSBC USA Inc, an indirectly-held, wholly-owned subsidiary of HSBC North America Holdings Inc., one of the nation's ten largest bank holding companies by assets. For more information about HSBC Bank USA and its products and services visit us.hsbc.com.

Media inquiries:
Stephen Cohen - stephen.e.cohen@us.hsbc.com

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