HEADQUARTERS
Birmingham, United Kingdom
publicly traded
YES
subsidiaries
First Direct, HSBC Innovation Banking
M&S Bank
largest shareholders
HSBC Holdings owns 100% of HSBC UK.
HSBC Holdings largest shareholders are:
Ping An Asset Management Co (8.46%)
Norges Bank Investment Management (3.36%)
The Vanguard Group (3.03%)
BlackRock Investment Management UK Ltd (2.39%)
The Bank of New York Mellon Corp Investment Management (2.35%),
BlackRock Fund Advisors (1.98%)
reach
HSBC UK's parent is HSBC Holdings, one of the world's largest banks operating in 72 countries.
Named after the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, it originated in Europe-China trade.
total assets
£341.6 billion.
HSBC Holdings (2024): £2.414 trillion ($3.017 trillion)
financing overview
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climate crisis
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genocide in Gaza
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Palestine occupation
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cont weapons
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Migrant abuse
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£54 billion
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£988 million
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£14.6 billion
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£3 billion
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N/A
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#20 financier of fossil fuels globally
#2 funder of fossil fuels in UK Helped raise over $14 billion in for companies expanding coal operations, which appears to breach its own pledge to phase-out coal |
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In 2024, HSBC provided the most finance to companies aiding the illegal settlement enterprise of any UK bank
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Appears to be the principal banker of Serco
Appears to have holdings in G4S (as of 2021) Appears to have provided a loan to Made Tech Limited in 2020 |
Company highlights and involvement
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company involved
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funding
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climate crisis
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gaza genocide
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cont. weapons
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migrant abuse
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BOEING
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£188m
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GENERAL DYNAMICS
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£99m
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GLENCORE
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£283m
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HONEYWELL
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£453m
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JACOBS SOLUTIONS
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£289m
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L3HARRIS
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£290m
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LEONARDO
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£298m
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LOCKHEED MARTIN
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£60m
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ROLLS-ROYCE
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£900m
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RTX
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£144m
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SAFRAN
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£281m
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THALES
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£175m
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TOTAL ENERGIES
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£721m
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SERCO
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N/A
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G4S
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N/A
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MADE TECH
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N/A
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Fossil fuel companies bankrolling the climate crisis
Funded: £721M
Climate Crisis
gaza genocide
TotalEnergies is a French energy giant complicit in human rights abuses, relentless fossil fuel expansion, and decades of deceit. Like its peers, TotalEnergies knew about climate change as early as 1970 but chose to fund misinformation campaigns, deliberately delaying vital climate action. Now it hides behind greenwashing—falsely claiming a path to net zero while boosting fossil fuel production.
TotalEnergies’ East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) project in Uganda and Tanzania has sparked outrage over human rights violations and environmental destruction. This 1,440km behemoth threatens to displace over 120,000 people, leaving communities devastated and livelihoods shattered. The Ugandan government, seemingly in lockstep with TotalEnergies, has ruthlessly silenced opposition, jailing peaceful protesters and crushing dissent. Families face intimidation and pressure to accept paltry compensation, their futures hanging in the balance.
Most chillingly, Total fuels Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Research reveals it supplies oil to Israel via Brazilian shipments and the BTC pipeline, profiting from bloodshed. The list of Total’s abuses culminates with its complicity in the Israeli genocide of Palestinians. Investigations by Oil Change International expose its direct complicity in Israel’s slaughter of Palestinians, supplying oil through Brazilian onshore fields it co-owns and the BTC pipeline, where it holds a stake. While Gaza burns, Total fuels the fire.
Funded: £283m
Climate Crisis
Glencore, one of the world’s largest mining companies and a leading trader of fossil-fuel commodities, embodies the brutal realities of neocolonial exploitation. Glencore accounts for a significant portion of global coal production, operating mines in countries like Colombia, South Africa, and Australia, while systematically ravaging environments and trampling human rights.
Its operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are a stark example, where investigations revealed years of waste acid discharge from its Luilu copper refinery, causing severe pollution and ongoing spills. Glencore’s denial of responsibility for child labour at its sites, instead blaming impoverished locals, is a cynical attempt to deflect from its own complicity. Further exposing its predatory practices, the Paradise Papers leak unveiled Glencore’s ties to controversial figures who facilitated the acquisition of undervalued mining rights, robbing the DRC of a tenth of its annual budget.
Glencore’s corruption extends across Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, and Cameroon, with its former head of oil trading and four executives facing UK bribery charges, including allegations of flying cash bribes on private jets. In South America, its copper mining has poisoned indigenous lands and rivers in Peru, devastating the health and livelihoods of the Quechua and K’ana peoples while denying compensation. The company’s dark history also includes funding state security forces and paramilitary groups in Colombia and the Philippines to intimidate and murder communities resisting its exploitation.
Weapons Companies bankrolling the Gaza Genocide and Cont. Weapons
Funded: £188m
controversial weapons
gaza genocide
Boeing is not only a global aerospace giant but also a pivotal enabler of the Israeli genocide of Palestinians. The company has supplied Israel with vast quantities of advanced weaponry, notably its Joint Direct Attack Munition kits, which convert unguided bombs into precision-guided munitions. These Boeing-manufactured weapons have been linked to numerous deadly attacks on densely populated civilian areas, in what Amnesty International and other human rights organisations have condemned as potential war crimes. Boeing’s Apache attack helicopters and F-15 fighter jets have also played a central role in Israeli military campaigns, further amplifying the scale and lethality of operations in Gaza.
Beyond its role in conventional warfare, Boeing is a key contractor in the U.S. nuclear weapons program, maintaining and supporting the guidance systems for Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles, which are central to the U.S. nuclear arsenal. This dual role—supplying both conventional and nuclear arsenals—places Boeing at the heart of global military-industrial power, with its products implicated in both genocide and the ongoing threat of nuclear escalation.
Case study: Joint Direct Attack Munitions used on Palestinians
- Deir al-Balah, Gaza
- Owner: Boeing
On 10 and 22 October 2023, two Israeli air strikes—using Boeing-manufactured Joint Direct Attack Munitions —killed 43 civilians, including 19 children, in Deir al-Balah, Gaza. Amnesty International’s forensic analysis confirmed Boeing’s JDAM fragments and manufacturing codes in the rubble of destroyed homes, where survivors reported no prior warning. The attacks, lacking any apparent military objective, obliterated families and left survivors in shock.
US-made weapons facilitated the mass killings of extended families
Funded: £60m
gaza genocide
controversial weapons
Lockheed Martin, the world’s largest arms manufacturer, stands as a linchpin of global military-industrial power, supplying Israel with some of its most advanced and lethal weapons. The company’s AGM-114 Hellfire missiles have been deployed in Gaza, including a November 2023 strike near Shifa Hospital that killed journalists and other civilians.
Beyond its role in conventional warfare, Lockheed Martin is central to the global nuclear arms race. The company is responsible for the design, production, and modernisation of nuclear delivery systems, notably the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile, as well as subcontracting for the Sentinel modernisation programme and maintaining Trident II missiles for both the US and UK. Through these contracts, Lockheed Martin ensures the continued operation and lethality of nuclear arsenals that threaten global security.
Funded: £453m
gaza genocide
controversial weapons
Honeywell International, a global conglomerate, is deeply entrenched in the machinery of conflict, contributing critical components to Israel’s military operations, particularly implicated in the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Its precision-guided munitions have been identified in devastating strikes, including the airstrike on the U.N.-run al-Sardi school on 6th June 2024, which brutally claimed the lives of at least 40 Palestinians, including 14 children.
Beyond its immediate complicity in the Gaza genocide, Honeywell is a linchpin of the US nuclear weapons programme. As the sole manufacturer of critical navigation systems for weapons like the Minuteman III nuclear missile, and a key subcontractor on the Sentinel programme, the company underpins the modernisation of these apocalyptic arsenals. Its subsidiary’s oversight of the Kansas City National Security Campus, responsible for 85% of non-nuclear components for US nuclear weapons, and its operation of the Nevada National Security Site, further highlight its profound connection to instruments of mass destruction.
Funded: £290m
gaza genocide
controversial weapons
L3Harris Technologies is deeply embedded in the global arms trade and plays a pivotal role in equipping Israel’s military with advanced, highly destructive technology. As the world’s ninth largest weapons manufacturer, L3Harris produces over 1,600 components for the F-35 fighter jet—Israel’s primary weapon in its relentless bombardment of Gaza, responsible for widespread civilian casualties and devastation. The company’s systems are also integral to Israel’s Sa’ar-class warships, which enforce the illegal naval blockade, strangling Gaza’s access to essential goods and humanitarian aid. L3Harris is a key supplier of guidance kits and bomb components used in the precision-guided munitions that have levelled entire neighbourhoods and targeted civilian infrastructure in Gaza.
Beyond conventional arms, L3Harris contributes to the US and UK’s nuclear weapons programmes, supplying components for the Trident II ballistic missiles and participating in the Sentinel nuclear missile modernisation through Northrop Grumman.
Funded: £900m
gaza genocide
controversial weapons
Rolls-Royce, the UK’s second-largest arms manufacturer, is deeply entwined with both Britain’s nuclear weapons programme and Israel’s machinery of war in Gaza. Through its German subsidiary MTU, Rolls-Royce supplies the engines powering Israel’s Merkava 4 and 5 tanks, Namer armoured personnel carriers, and Eitan armoured fighting vehicles—hardware extensively deployed during the 2023 ground invasion of Gaza, including in attacks on medical facilities such as Shifa Hospital. These engines are the most significant Merkava component made outside Israel, forming the backbone of armoured assaults that have killed thousands and devastated civilian infrastructure. Rolls-Royce also provides propulsion systems for 80% of the Israeli Navy’s patrol boats, which enforce the illegal and deadly blockade of Gaza.
On the nuclear front, Rolls-Royce holds contracts to supply reactor cores for the UK’s Trident missile submarines, directly supporting Britain’s weapons of mass destruction.
Funded: £298M
gaza genocide
CONTROVERSIAL WEAPONS
The Italian arms giant Leonardo supplies the deadly naval gun systems mounted on Israel’s Sa’ar-class warships, the brutal enforcers of Gaza’s illegal naval blockade. These warships, including the heavily armed Sa’ar 6 corvettes, form the backbone of Israel’s naval oppression, cutting off food, fuel, and medical supplies to Gaza’s besieged population. In October 2023, Leonardo’s weaponry saw its first bloody deployment as Sa’ar 6 ships bombarded Gaza, directly enabling Israel’s indiscriminate assault on Palestinian civilians. By arming these warships, Leonardo isn’t just complicit in collective punishment—it’s a key enabler of what legal experts say constitutes war crimes. While posing as a “defence” contractor, the company profits from the machinery of occupation, turning Gaza’s coastline into a militarised kill zone where Palestinian fishermen are shot at and humanitarian aid is blocked.
Funded: £144M
gaza genocide
CONTROVERSIAL WEAPONS
RTX, formerly known as Raytheon Technologies, is a major player in the global arms industry and a prime contractor for the United States’ newest generation of nuclear weapons. The company leads the development of the Long Range Standoff missile, a nuclear-capable weapon designed to be launched from bombers and to evade modern defences, reinforcing America’s nuclear strike capabilities. RTX’s influence extends further through its subsidiary, Collins Aerospace, which is building crucial command and control systems for the US Air Force’s next-generation Sentinel missile. These projects place RTX at the core of efforts to modernise and expand the US nuclear arsenal.
RTX supplies the Israeli Air Force with guided air-to-surface missiles for its F-16 fighter jets, as well as cluster bombs and “bunker buster” bombs, although there is no conclusive evidence that Israel has been using them in Gaza since October 2023. RTX subsidiary Pratt & Whitney manufactures engines for F-15 and F-16 fighter jets.
Funded: £99M
gaza genocide
CONTROVERSIAL WEAPONS
General Dynamics, a cornerstone of the global arms industry, stands as a primary architect of destruction, arming conflicts worldwide, including the genocidal campaign in Gaza. The company is a key supplier of devastating weaponry to Israel, notably the MK-84 bombs—weapons of immense destructive power notoriously unleashed in densely populated areas. By November 2023, over 500 such bombs, courtesy of General Dynamics, had reportedly been dropped in Northern Gaza.
Beyond its direct role in current atrocities, General Dynamics distinguishes itself through involvement in three categories of controversial weapons. It holds licences for depleted uranium, primarily for its M1 Abrams tank systems, and produces components that can facilitate the deployment of abhorrent white phosphorus munitions. Furthermore, the company is a critical subcontractor on the Sentinel programme, contributing to the chilling modernisation of nuclear weapons.
Case study: Jabalya Refugee Camp Bombing
On 31 October 2023, Israeli forces dropped US-made MK-84 bombs—manufactured by General Dynamics—on the densely populated Jabalya refugee camp in northern Gaza. The strike obliterated residential buildings and left a scene of devastation, with more than 120 people killed, the majority women and children, and hundreds more wounded or missing beneath the rubble. The attack, which Israel claimed targeted a Hamas commander, was widely condemned and is cited as a potential war crime, highlighting the lethal consequences of exporting powerful munitions to conflict zones.
I was waiting in line to buy bread when suddenly and without any prior warning seven to eight missiles fell. There were seven to eight huge holes in the ground, full of killed people, body parts all over the place, it felt like the end of the world.
Companies bankrolling MIGRANT ABUSE
HSBC IS THE PRINCIPAL BANKER OF SERCO
gaza genocide
MIGRANT ABUSE
Serco has perfected the art of monetising state violence, enabling the surveillance and detention of racialised communities. Serco runs four “immigration removal centres”, including the infamous Yarl’s Wood, as well as, the UK’s GPS tagging program for migrants and asylum seekers, subjecting them to 24/7 surveillance.
Serco’s management of Yarl’s Wood Immigration Removal Centre since 2007 has been marked by persistent allegations of abuse. Multiple investigations have revealed a culture of sexual violence, with detainees reporting coercion by guards. “If you have to open your legs you will,” one survivor testified, “You think that is the only way you are able to speak to your family”. Electronic monitoring of asylum seekers has been found unlawful and causes severe psychological and physical harm.
Serco plays a sinister role in sustaining Israel’s genocidal regime by providing critical military support. The company boasts of its work in “modernising and sustaining core weapons systems,” including naval and aerial platforms used by allied forces—among them, Israel’s genocidal military. Serco Australia has a contract to maintain Rafael’s Typhoon and Mini-Typhoon remote weapon stations—the same systems used by Israeli forces to slaughter Palestinians.
HSBC provided a loan to Made Tech in 2020
MIGRANT ABUSE
Made Tech, a UK-based digital and technology consultancy, publicly positions itself as a champion for positive societal impact, claiming to “positively impact the future of society by improving public services technology”. However, this rhetoric masks a far more troubling reality: Made Tech is a central enabler of the Ministry of Justice’s electronic monitoring regime, a system that disproportionately targets and controls marginalised groups, including refugees and asylum seekers. Through multi-million-pound government contracts, Made Tech is responsible for developing and maintaining the digital infrastructure that powers intrusive surveillance—transforming individuals into data points to be tracked, analysed, and controlled.
While Made Tech does not manufacture or fit physical monitoring devices, its role is pivotal: the company builds and manages the software, data products, and technical assurance systems that allow the state to monitor individuals’ movements and behaviours with unprecedented precision. This digital backbone makes it possible for authorities to enforce restrictive conditions on refugees, who are already subject to draconian immigration policies, by subjecting them to relentless surveillance. The psychological toll of living under such scrutiny is profound, fostering anxiety, isolation, and a pervasive sense of being watched.
Beyond traditional ankle tags, Made Tech is involved in “non-fitted device” monitoring, which imposes regular biometric checks—such as fingerprint scans—on refugees, creating an environment of constant uncertainty and control. These measures are not only intrusive but also inflict psychological violence, fostering anxiety and isolation among those already marginalised by restrictive immigration policies.
HSBC HAS HOLDINGS IN G4S
MIGRANT ABUSE
G4S, the world’s second largest security company, is involved in migrant control in the UK via both electronic tagging and immigration detention. As a key provider of electronic monitoring tags, used extensively for migrants, the company’s past record is damning. In 2013, G4S was caught in a fraud, brazenly charging the UK government for tagging individuals who were dead, imprisoned, or no longer in the country. Shockingly, the Ministry of Justice awarded them a new multi-million-pound contract in 2023 for continued surveillance.
Beyond tagging, G4S’s tenure managing immigration detention centres (until 2020), such as the notorious Brook House, has been equally fraught with scandal. A BBC Panorama investigation revealed horrifying abuses by G4S staff against detainees, exposing a culture of verbal and physical mistreatment. These incidents, alongside deaths in custody under G4S’s watch, paint a grim picture of systemic failures in its handling of people in its care, fundamentally undermining claims of humane treatment within the UK’s immigration system.
Case study: G4S abuse of children in youth detention
G4S’s management of youth detention in the UK is marked with neglect and abuse of vulnerable children. At Oakhill Secure Training Centre, children have suffered violence, excessive force, and prolonged isolation—practices condemned as unlawful and harmful by inspectors. The legacy of G4S is stained by tragedy: in 2004 at Rainsbrook youth jail, 15-year-old Gareth Myatt died after being pinned down by staff for refusing to clean a sandwich toaster, choking on his own vomit. Despite repeated warnings and damning reports, the cycle of abuse continues, with children trapped in conditions described as chaotic, unsafe, and barely meeting minimum standards of human decency.
You had officers who were restraining a child who was crying out in pain, saying he couldn’t breathe, asking for help, wanting them to stop – and they continued restraining him