London, 26 January 2011

HSBC continues to expand its range of exchange traded funds (ETFs) with the launch in Europe of the HSBC S&P BRIC 40 ETF, which carries a market leading total expense ratio (TER) of just 0.60%.*

The HSBC S&P BRIC 40 ETF is listed on the London Stock Exchange in sterling and US dollar trading currencies (Bloomberg ticker: HSPB LN for sterling / HSBR LN for US dollar). Further registrations and cross-listings in Europe are planned.

The HSBC S&P BRIC 40 ETF aims to mirror the performance of the S&P BRIC 40® Index, which is designed to offer exposure to the leading companies from Brazil, Russia, India and China. All index constituents trade on stock exchanges in Hong Kong, the UK and the USA. As with all HSBC ETFs launched to date, the HSBC S&P BRIC 40 ETF will use ‘physical replication’ in tracking its index. The fund will aim to invest in securities in generally the same proportions as in the index but may not take exposure to all securities within the index.

Farley Thomas, Head of ETFs at HSBC, said: “The launch of the HSBC S&P BRIC 40 ETF marks an important milestone in that we now offer access to the largest developed and emerging markets through our range of high quality and good value ETFs.”

Thomas added: “HSBC has been a strong proponent of BRIC investment for many years and launched one of the first internationally available BRIC funds in 2004. We now have a wide range of BRIC investment products available to suit different investor preferences and risk appetites. The HSBC S&P BRIC 40 ETF adds to this range and caters to the growing number of investors using ETFs as part of their investment strategy.”

HSBC Global Asset Management is one of the world’s largest investors in emerging markets with more than USD 100bn** of assets under management in this asset class including almost USD 30 billion in the BRIC markets.

HSBC has USD 7.5bn in ETF assets under management globally*** and is a leading ETF product provider in Asia ex Japan with 13% market share****.

HSBC announced its entry into the European ETF market in August 2009 with the launch of the HSBC FTSE 100 ETF. Since then, HSBC has added ETFs linked a number of indices, including the EURO STOXX® 50, MSCI Japan, FTSE® 250, S&P® 500, MSCI Europe, MSCI USA, MSCI Brazil, MSCI Pacific ex Japan, MSCI EM Far East, MSCI Turkey and MSCI World indices.

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*The HSBC S&P BRIC 40® ETF lists on the London Stock Exchange on 26 January, 2011.

**As at end September 2010, HSBC Global Asset Management had USD103bn in Emerging Markets assets under management

***As at December, 2010. Includes ETFs operated by Hang Seng Bank and HSBC in Hong Kong. Source: HSBC

**** Source: Blackrock ETF Landscape November 2010