For the half year:

Dividend and capital position:

Extracted from comments by Stephen Green, Group Chairman:

Building one of the world's leading Private Banks

The transformation of our Private Banking business has been one of the great successes in HSBC. In just a few years, the private banking arms of the various Group entities have been knitted together into one global proposition for our high net worth customers.

We rebranded as HSBC Private Bank in 2004 and a measure of our success is that pre-tax profits of US$600 million in the first half of 2006 have more than doubled over the past three years.

We have succeeded by extending the product range available to customers, in particular in the area of alternative investments, and by adding capabilities relevant to our wealthiest customers in the areas of residential property advice, trust and tax advice.

Client assets increased by 22 percent to US$305 billion, benefiting from net new money of US$18.6 billion in the first half of 2006. Again we are managing the business in a more joined-up way, with increasing cross-referrals from the wider Group contributing some US$2.9 billion of net new money. Regional expansion within the UK and France, as well as a good start from the recently launched onshore operations in Dubai and India, have established a solid foundation for further growth.

For the full comments, media release and related downloads, please visit the HSBC Group website.

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