In 2003, U.K.-based HSBC Holdings (the largest public company on Earth) bought the U.S.-based Household Finance Corporation (HFC) for $15.5 billion. At the time, HFC was known as Household International, and had been lending directly to U.S. customers with 'subprime credit.'
According to http://www.OligopolyWatch.com :
"The Household Finance acquisition was quite significant. HFC is the second largest consumer lender (homes, mortgages) in the U.S., after Citigroup. It is also a major issuer of credit cards. While the company is still digesting the HFC move, it is considered to be in the market for a regional US bank, trying to expand beyond its New York state base. As the U.S. industry consolidates, there will be few such opportunities left in a few years. HSBC is poised to grow. It has a strong expertise and growing presence in mainland China, the fastest growing economy in the world, and the world presence to handle international trade agreements with that country and others. It has a big presence in international banking havens (Switzerland, the Channel Islands, Panama, and, recently, Bermuda) for its numerous private banking clients. Like several of its main competitors, it has far more influence about where money circulates and ends up than any national government."
According to MSNBC.com, when British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced the $88 billion recapitalization/partial nationalization plan for the country's largest banks in October 2008, HSBC:
"endorsed the recapitalization plan but said it intended to rely on its own resources and not take on the government as a shareholder."
For more on HSBC, visit:
http://www.citywire.co.uk/professional/-/news/fund-news/content.aspx?ID=317948
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/oct/08/hsbcholdings.banking
http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1670081732/bctid1858922516
http://news.morningstar.com/newsnet/ViewNews.aspx?article=/DJ/200810080452DOWJONESDJONLINE000268_univ.xml
To download a Quicktime movie file of 'Financing the American Family,' visit:
http://www.archive.org/details/Financin1935
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