HSBC comp. acq. 14.62% of UTI

HSBC Holdings PLC
10 June 2004

            HSBC COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF 14.62 PER CENT OF UTI BANK

Following HSBC's announcement on 2 December 2003 of an agreement to acquire a
minority interest in UTI Bank Limited, the Group has today completed its
acquisition of a 14.62 per cent stake in the bank, having obtained approval from
the Reserve Bank of India.

HSBC's acquiring entity, HSBC Asia Pacific Holdings (UK) Limited, has paid a
consideration of US$67.6 million in cash for the 14.62 per cent stake in UTI
Bank. HSBC has acquired the equity shareholdings in UTI Bank from CDC Financial
Services (Mauritius) Limited and South Asia Regional Fund.

Michael Smith, CEO of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited,
said: "UTI Bank is a well-managed local financial institution, and our
investment in it will give HSBC greater participation in India's fast-growing
financial sector. We have had a long history in India of over 150 years and with
this new investment we aim to strengthen our presence in this dynamically
growing economy."

With over 250 branches and extension counters and more than 1,200 ATMs
nationwide, UTI Bank has the second largest retail banking network amongst
private sector banks in India. It offers a comprehensive range of corporate
banking, retail lending and deposit products and an internet banking service to
its one million customers. UTI Bank is listed on the Mumbai, Ahmedabad and
National stock exchanges in India and had deposits of INR209.54 billion (US$4.83
billion) at 31 March 2004.

The remaining 85.38 per cent interest in UTI Bank is held by a number of
entities, including government institutions and corporate investors and
individual shareholders.

Notes to editors:

1. HSBC in India
The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited in India offers a full
range of banking and financial services from its 35 branches in the 18 cities of
Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai, Cochin, Coimbatore, Gurgaon,
Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Ludhiana, Mumbai, New Delhi, Noida, Pune, Thane,
Trivandrum and Visakhapatnam, and some 150 ATMs across the country. HSBC has a
credit card base of some 700,000 customers in India and is one of the leading
merchant acquirers in the Indian credit cards industry.

The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited is the founding and a
principal member of the HSBC Group which, with over 9,500 offices in 79
countries and territories and assets of over US$1,034 billion at 31 December
2003, is one of the world's largest banking and financial services
organisations.

2. Advisors to HSBC
HSBC Securities and Capital Markets (India) Private Limited.

3. The HSBC Group
HSBC Holdings plc is headquartered in the UK. The HSBC Group serves over 110
million customers worldwide from more than 9,500 offices in 79 countries and
territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the Americas, the Middle East
and Africa. With assets of US$1,034 billion at 31 December 2003, HSBC is one of
the world's largest banking and financial services organisations. HSBC is
marketed worldwide as 'the world's local bank'.





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