HSBC BRASIL ACQUISITION

HSBC Holdings PLC
29 November 2004


        HSBC BRASIL AGREES TO ACQUIRE PERSONAL LOAN UNIT OF MATONE GROUP

HSBC Bank Brasil S.A., a subsidiary of HSBC Holdings plc, has acquired
CrediMatone S.A., the personal loan operation of Banco Matone S.A., for a
consideration of R$30 million (approximately US$11 million).

This transaction follows HSBC Bank Brasil's recent acquisition of Valeu and
demonstrates the bank's commitment to growing its Brazilian consumer finance
business.

CrediMatone offers direct loans as well as loans where borrowers authorise the
lender to take repayments directly from their payroll - so called 'consignation'
products. HSBC is not acquiring the 'consignation' business.

HSBC will also acquire CrediMatone's network of 47 branches and approximately
300 sales agents. The unit currently has around 60,000 active customers.



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