HSBC Holdings plc has its headquarters in London. The group has offices throughout the world and posted record figures for 2007 with a pre tax profit of US$ 24,212 million. With assets of some US$ 2,354 billion at 31 December 2007, HSBC-Group is one of the world’s largest banking and financial services organisations. HSBC-Group is marketed worldwide as ‚The world’s local bank’.