HSBC sells Dewaay to KBL

HSBC Holdings PLC
12 July 2005


                            HSBC SELLS DEWAAY TO KBL

CCF and Kredietbank SA Luxembourgeoise (KBL) have signed an agreement for KBL, a
member of the KBC Group, to acquire 100 per cent of the capital of HSBC Dewaay,
a wholly-owned subsidiary of the CCF Group. Completion of the deal is subject to
receiving the necessary approvals from supervisory and competition authorities
in Belgium and Luxembourg.

HSBC Dewaay is a private bank operating in the Belgian and Luxembourg markets,
offering personalised financial services to affluent families. At 31 December
2004, HSBC Dewaay had over €2.5 billion in assets under management, including
nearly 80 per cent under discretionary management, and gross assets of
€40.7 million.

Notes to editors:

The HSBC Group
1. CCF is a wholly-owned subsidiary of HSBC Holdings plc and a member of the 
HSBC Group. Serving over 110 million customers worldwide, the HSBC Group has 
over 9,800 offices in 77 countries and territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific 
region, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa. With assets of US$1,277 
billion at 31 December 2004, HSBC is one of the world's largest banking and 
financial services organisations. HSBC is marketed worldwide as 'the world's 
local bank'.

2. KBC Group
KBL is a subsidiary of KBC Group NV, one of the leading financial groups in 
Europe. KBC Group is a multi-channel bancassurance group occupying significant 
positions in Belgium and Central Europe. Besides focusing on providing retail 
and private bancassurance services, KBC Group is also active in asset 
management, the provision of corporate services, market activities and private 
equity. It has an extensive European private bankers network, grouped under the
'KBL European Private Bankers' concept and present in 10 European countries.

With a market capitalisation of around €24 billion, KBC Group NV is listed on 
Euronext Brussels and the Bourse de Luxembourg. It employs 51,000 staff and 
caters for 11 million customers.






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