Hang Seng Bank

Hang Seng Bank Limited (Template:Zh) is a Hong Kong–based banking and financial services company with headquarters in Central, Hong Kong. It is one of Hong Kong's leading public companies in terms of market capitalisation and is part of the HSBC Group, which holds a majority equity interest in the bank.<ref name="Bank Profile and History">Template:Cite web</ref>

Hang Seng Bank is a commercial bank whose major business activities include retail banking, wealth management, commercial banking, treasury services, and private banking.<ref name="Bank Profile and History" /> Hang Seng Bank operates a network of around 260 service outlets in Hong Kong.<ref name="Bank Profile and History" /> It also has a wholly owned subsidiary in mainland China, Hang Seng Bank (China) Limited, which has a network of 46 branches and sub branches.<ref name="Profile and History">Template:Cite web</ref>

It established the Hang Seng Index as a public service in 1969 and this stock market index is now generally known as the primary indicator of the Hong Kong stock market.<ref name="Company Profile">Template:Cite web</ref>

History

In 1933, business partners Lam Bing Yim (林炳炎), Ho Sin Hang, Sheng Tsun Lin (盛春霖), and Leung Chik Wai (梁植偉) founded Hang Seng Ngan Ho, the predecessor of Hang Seng Bank, in Hong Kong.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Hang Seng means "ever-growing" in Cantonese.<ref name="ever-growing bank">Template:Cite journal</ref> It commenced business as a simple money-changing shop at 70 Wing Lok Street, Sheung Wan, on 3 March 1933.<ref name="Hang Seng Celebrates 80 Years" /> In 1952, Hang Seng Bank became a private company and embarked on commercial banking.<ref name="Major Milestones 1933 - 2012">Template:Cite web</ref> Hang Seng Bank converted into a public company in 1960.<ref name="Major Milestones 1933 - 2012"/> In 1965, Hang Seng Bank suffered a bank run which depleted almost one-quarter of its reserves. As a result, The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) acquired a controlling 51% interest in Hang Seng Bank, which it later increased to 62.14%.<ref name="Major Milestones 1933 - 2012" />

In 1969, the Hang Seng Index was introduced as a public service.<ref name="Company Profile"/> The index is now generally known as an indicator of the Hong Kong stock market.<ref name="Company Profile"/> Hang Seng Bank was listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (SEHK) in 1972.<ref name="Major Milestones 1933 - 2012"/> In 1981, Hang Seng Bank was given permission to run branches in MTR stations.<ref name="Major Milestones 1933 - 2012"/> Hang Seng Bank began to extend its business to China<ref>It is standard to refer to Hong Kong and China without the word "mainland" for events occurred during the British era, as demonstrated in this document "banknote in Hong Kong and China in 1865 to stimulate ..." [1] Template:Webarchive</ref> in 1985,<ref name="Major Milestones 1933 - 2012" /> with the opening of a representative office in Shenzhen.<ref name="Major Milestones 1933 - 2012" /> Ten years later, Hang Seng Bank opened its first Chinese branch in Guangzhou.<ref name="Major Milestones 1933 - 2012" />

In 2002, Hang Seng Bank began to launch personal e-banking in mainland China.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Hang Seng Bank opened its branch in Macau in 2003.<ref name="Major Milestones 1933 - 2012" /> In 2006, Hang Seng Bank received authorisation to get ready for the formation of its mainland China subsidiary bank.<ref name="Major Milestones 1933 - 2012" /> Within the same year, Hang Seng Bank introduced a brand revitalisation program and presented a new company slogan – Managing wealth for you, with you.<ref name="Major Milestones 1933 - 2012"/>

The China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) authorised the formation of Hang Seng Bank (China) Limited, the mainland China subsidiary bank of Hang Seng Bank<ref name="Major Milestones 1933 - 2012"/> on 28 May 2007.<ref name="Profile and History"/> In November, Hang Seng Bank opened its new Hong Kong office at MegaBox, Kowloon Bay.<ref name="Major Milestones 1933 - 2012"/> Hang Seng Bank became the first bank in Hong Kong to fix the renminbi (RMB) prime rate in 2010.<ref name="Major Milestones 1933 - 2012"/>

In February 2012, Hang Seng Bank introduced the world's first RMB gold exchange-traded fund (ETF).<ref name="Major Milestones 1933 - 2012"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The brand value of Hang Seng Bank was ranked 65th globally in the 2012 Brand Finance Banking 500, the highest ranking for Hong Kong banks.<ref name="Financial Strength">Template:Cite web</ref>

In October 2025, HSBC, the majority shareholder of Hang Seng Bank, announced that it would privatise Hang Seng Bank by purchasing the 38% that it didn't already own, and take the company off the SEHK after completion.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Overview

Central Branch

Hang Seng Bank is a commercial bank whose major business activities include retail banking and wealth management, corporate and commercial banking, treasury services, and private banking.<ref name="Bank Profile and History"/> Hang Seng Bank operates a network of around 260 service outlets in Hong Kong.<ref name="Bank Profile and History"/> Hang Seng Bank is the only local bank to offer extensive branch services along Mass Transit Railway (MTR) stations to better serve its customers.<ref name="Hang Seng Celebrates 80 Years">Template:Cite news</ref>

Hang Seng Bank established its wholly owned subsidiary, Hang Seng Bank (China) Limited, in 2007.<ref name="Profile and History"/> The subsidiary runs a mainland China network of 46 outlets in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Fuzhou, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Tianjin, Kunming, Foshan, Zhongshan, Huizhou, Xiamen, Zhuhai and Jiangmen with 12 branches and 34 sub-branches.<ref name="Profile and History"/> For foreign currency wholesale business, Hang Seng Bank maintains branches in Shenzhen, Macau and Singapore, as well as a representative office in Taipei.<ref name="Bank Profile and History"/>

The current chairperson is Mr. Edward Cheng.<ref name="Board of Directors">Template:Cite web</ref> The current Vice-Chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) is Ms. Luanne Lim.<ref name="Board of Directors"/>

Current leadership

• Chairman: Edward Cheng (since May 2025)
• Chief Executive: Luanne Lim (since October 2025)

Logo of Hang Seng Bank from 1954 to 1996

List of former chairmen

Role of chairman began in 1952, after incorporation as a bank

1. Ho Sin-hang (1952–1983)
2. Sir Lee Quo-wei (1983–1996)
3. David Eldon (1998–2005)
4. Michael Smith (2005–2007)
5. Raymond Ch'ien (2007–2021)
6. Irene Lee (2021–2025)

List of former CEOs

Role of CEO / general manager began in 1952, after incorporation as a bank

1. Ho Tim (1952–1967)
2. Sir Lee Quo-wei (1967–1987)
3. Ho Tak-ching (1987–1993)
4. Alexander Au (1993–1998)
5. Vincent Cheng (1998–2005)
6. Raymond Or (2005–2009)
7. Margaret Leung (2009–2012)
8. Rose Lee (2012–2017)
9. Louisa Cheang (2017–2021)
10. Diana Cesar (2021–2025)

External links

• Template:Finance links

• Hang Seng Bank official website