Board of Directors

HSBC Holdings PLC
29 May 2001


Letter to Company Announcements Office

HSBC Holdings plc - Board of Directors

Sir Peter Walters and Mr D E Connolly retired as Directors of HSBC Holdings
plc at the Annual General Meeting held on 25 May 2001.

Sir Peter Walters is succeeded as Deputy Chairman and senior independent
non-executive Director by Sir Brian Moffat, and as Chairman of the
Remuneration Committee by Lord Marshall.

The composition of the Board of Directors of HSBC Holdings plc as at 25 May
2001 is:

Sir John Bond, Group Chairman
The Baroness Dunn, DBE, Deputy Chairman and senior non-executive Director
Sir Brian Moffat, OBE, Deputy Chairman and senior independent non-executive
Director
K R Whitson, Group Chief Executive
The Lord Butler, GCB, CVO
Dr R K F Ch'ien, CBE
C F W de Croisset
W R P Dalton
D G Eldon
D J Flint
W K L Fung, OBE
S K Green
S Hintze
A W Jebson
Sir John Kemp-Welch
The Lord Marshall
C Miller Smith
Sir Mark Moody-Stuart, KCMG
M Murofushi
C E Reichardt
Dr H Sohmen, OBE
Sir Adrian Swire



Letter from P A Stafford
Senior Assistant Secretary
HSBC Holdings plc
29 May 2001