Tuesday, June 7 2011 17:17

HSBC Celebrates Fifteen Years In Armenia

<>ArmInfo. Fifteen years ago HSBC opened for business in Armenia, becoming the first international bank to operate in the country.

Last week of May, HSBC Armenia marked this occasion with a celebration at the 7th century temple of Zvartnots, with the participation of Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan, Government and Central Bank officials, HSBC clients and HSBC Group and local staff.

The Prime Minister, Tigran Sargsyan, said it was hard to overestimate the importance of the courageous step taken by HSBC in the mid-90s, when Armenia was facing an economic, political, financial and social crisis. It was a step that gave confidence towards the country's future and attracted other investors to Armenia. "The Government of Armenia will do everything to create a favorable environment for investors in Armenia as well as for HSBC, to prosper further for the benefit of people in Armenia and its stakeholders," said Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan.

Peter Boyles, Chief Executive Officer HSBC Continental Europe said that HSBC Armenia is an example of building a strong business within a short space of time through purely organic means. "I want to assure the Armenian Government, the Central Bank and clients that HSBC will remain absolutely committed to Armenia. One of the initiatives we will be very keen to expend on is to connect Armenian people all over the world to our business here", said Peter Boyles.

HSBC Bank Armenia cjsc was the first international bank to open in Armenia in 1996. The bank is a joint venture between the HSBC Group, which has 70 percent ownership, and members of overseas Armenian businesses. The bank offers a wide range of products and services to individual as well as corporate customers, including personal financial services, commercial banking and treasury and capital markets services. Thanks to the HSBC network in 87 countries and territories, the bank is uniquely positioned to provide truly international services to its customers.

The Yerevan office opened with 18 staff and under 100 clients. HSBC Bank Armenia cjsc today has more than 33 thousand individual and five thousand corporate customers and employs 384 employees at eight branches and offices in Yerevan. The bank has one of the largest networks of more than 50 ATMs located throughout Yerevan. HSBC in Armenia has grown assets from five million US dollars in 1996 to just 405 million US dollars today.

HSBC Bank Armenia cjsc was named the "Best Bank in Armenia" for the third year in a Global Finance survey which listed "The World's Best Emerging Market Banks in Asia".

Ranking of Armenian Commercial Banks prepared by ArmInfo Agency says HSBC Bank Armenia retains lead positions in terms of key figures in the banking system of Armenia. As of April 1 2011 HSBC Bank Armenia was the leader in terms of net profit (1,6 bln drams), the 3rd in terms of assets (149.6 bln drams), the first in terms of investments in economy (almost 90 bln drams), the first in terms of personal deposits (nearly 80 bln drams) and the first in terms of call liabilities (58.7 bln drams). The loan portfolio of the bank is diversified: trade finance, industrial sector, construction sector and mortgage. The bank is the leader by the share of investments in government bonds in summary investments of Armenian commercial banks - 23% or 25.4 bln drams. The bank tool the 2nd position by the efficiency ratio for Q1 2011: ROE- 6.24% and ROA- 1.07%.

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HSBC Celebrates Fifteen Years In Armenia