Disposal

HSBC Holdings PLC
20 June 2001


                       CHARTERHOUSE DEVELOPMENT CAPITAL

CCF Charterhouse Limited, an indirectly-held, wholly-owned subsidiary of HSBC
Holdings plc ('HSBC'), has sold Charterhouse Development Capital Holdings
Limited ('CDC') to the existing CDC management team.

CDC, one of Europe's major private equity houses, was acquired by HSBC last
year as part of its acquisition of Credit Commercial de France SA ('CCF').
With the integration of CCF and HSBC, HSBC considers that shareholder value
will be best maximised by the disposal of the management companies of the CDC
Group. CDC had net assets of £4.4 million at 31 December 2000.

HSBC will continue to be a leading player in private equity through its own
successful private equity operation, HSBC Private Equity Limited.

Notes to editors

1. Charterhouse Development Capital

Charterhouse Development Capital is the UK's longest established private
equity firm and has been an active investor in Continental Europe for
approximately 30 years. It recently announced the acquisition of Cegelec, in
partnership with Caisse de Depots, from Alstom in a Eur750 million
transaction. It has funds under management of over £1 billion, most of which
is from external investors.

2. HSBC Private Equity

HSBC Private Equity Limited is the European private equity arm of the HSBC
Group. It has external and internal funds under management of over £1 billion
and a European network of offices in London, Manchester, Paris, Dusseldorf and
Stockholm.

3. HSBC Holdings plc

With some 6,500 offices in 79 countries and territories and assets of US$674
billion at 31 December 2000, is one of the world's largest banking and
financial services organisations.