HSBC

Is HSBC safe?

Yes. HSBC is one of the few big banks that came through 2008 without taking government money, and its balance sheet today is unusually liquid: a CET1CET1 ratioA bank's highest-quality capital (mainly shares and retained profits) as a share of its risk-weighted assets. Higher means more room to absorb losses.More in the glossary capital ratio of 14.1% at 30 June 2026 and a liquidity coverage ratioLiquidity coverage ratioA bank's cash and easy-to-sell assets compared with the money that could flow out in a 30-day crisis. It must be at least 100%.More in the glossary of 134%. For UK customers, deposits at HSBC UK Bank plc are covered by the FSCSDeposit insuranceA government-backed scheme that repays bank customers up to a set limit if their bank fails, such as the FDIC in the US or the FSCS in the UK.More in the glossary up to £120,000 per person. We score it 80/100. The main deductions are for conduct, including a 2024 fine over the very deposit-protection system that is meant to look after savers.

Which HSBC holds your money

HSBC is a group of separately regulated banks, and the one that matters is the one where your account sits.

Where you bank	Legal entity	Deposit protectionDeposit insuranceA government-backed scheme that repays bank customers up to a set limit if their bank fails, such as the FDIC in the US or the FSCS in the UK.More in the glossary
UK high street, first direct, M&S Bank	HSBC UK Bank plc	FSCS, £120,000 per person (shared across all three brands)
Hong Kong	The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation	Hong Kong DPS, HK$800,000
United States	HSBC Bank USA, N.A.	FDIC, $250,000 per ownership category
HSBC Expat	HSBC Bank plc, Jersey branch	Jersey depositor scheme, lower limit

Since 2019, UK rules have required HSBC to keep its UK retail bank ring-fenced from its investment banking arm. Ratings reflect that: HSBC UK Bank plc is rated A1 by Moody's, A+ by S&P and AA by Fitch, a notch or two above HSBC Holdings.

Capital and liquidity

HSBC's CET1 ratioCET1 ratioA bank's highest-quality capital (mainly shares and retained profits) as a share of its risk-weighted assets. Higher means more room to absorb losses.More in the glossary fell from 14.9% at the end of 2025 to 14.1% in June 2026, mainly because it spent capital buying out the minority shareholders of Hang Seng Bank in Hong Kong. It still sits inside its target range of 14% to 14.5%. Based on its 2025 annual report, its requirement is roughly 11%: the 4.5% minimum, 1.4% of Pillar 2A add-ons, a 2.5% conservation buffer, a 2% G-SIBG-SIBA global systemically important bank: one of the large banks the Financial Stability Board lists each year because its failure could harm the world economy.More in the glossary buffer and small countercyclical buffers.

Liquidity is the standout. HSBC had $1.83 trillion of customer deposits at 30 June 2026 and lent out only 55.9% of that. Much of the rest sits in cash and government bonds, which is why its liquidity coverage ratioLiquidity coverage ratioA bank's cash and easy-to-sell assets compared with the money that could flow out in a 30-day crisis. It must be at least 100%.More in the glossary averaged 134% over the past year. Few global banks of this size are as liquid.

Through two crises without help

In 2008 HSBC lost heavily on Household, the US subprime lender it bought in 2003, but it never needed the state. It raised £12.5 billion from its own shareholders in 2009. In March 2023, when Silicon Valley Bank collapsed, the UK government and Bank of England arranged an overnight sale of its UK arm to HSBC for £1, so that customers' deposits were never at risk. HSBC was the buyer, not the problem.

The main structural risk is concentration in Hong Kong and mainland China, which produce most of the group's profit. A severe Hong Kong property downturn or a US-China sanctions clash would hurt capital, although UK deposits are held in the separate ring-fenced bank.

The conduct record

HSBC's past is worse than its present. Its 2012 US settlement of $1.9 billion for failing to stop money laundering by Mexican cartels falls outside our ten-year window, but problems continued after it:

• 2017–2018: US penalties over foreign exchange trading, including $175 million from the Federal Reserve and a $101.5 million deferred prosecution agreement with the Justice Department.
• December 2019: about $192 million to the Justice Department over its Swiss private bank helping US clients evade tax.
• December 2021: £63.9 million from the FCA for weak transaction monitoring for money laundering between 2010 and 2018.
• January 2024: £57.4 million from the PRA, its second-largest fine ever, because HSBC had for years incorrectly marked eligible deposits as not covered by the FSCSDeposit insuranceA government-backed scheme that repays bank customers up to a set limit if their bank fails, such as the FDIC in the US or the FSCS in the UK.More in the glossary.

That last case matters for savers. It did not cost anyone money, but a protection system with errors can delay payouts in a failure. HSBC says it has fixed the data.

How to keep your money safe

1. Add up everything you hold across HSBC UK, first direct and M&S Bank. The £120,000 FSCSDeposit insuranceA government-backed scheme that repays bank customers up to a set limit if their bank fails, such as the FDIC in the US or the FSCS in the UK.More in the glossary limit applies once across all three.
2. If you have more than that, move the excess to a bank with a separate licence, such as Barclays or Santander UK.
3. If you hold an HSBC Expat or offshore account, check which jurisdiction's scheme applies. It is not the UK FSCS.
4. Use the app's digital secure key or biometric login and turn on payment alerts. Under UK rules introduced in October 2024, banks must usually refund victims of authorised push payment scams up to £85,000, so report any scam payment at once.

How we scored it

Liquidity (90) and stability history (90) are HSBC's strongest factors, with capital (82) not far behind. Conduct (58) is the weakest, reflecting a decade of money-laundering, tax and deposit-protection penalties. For a comparison with a US bank of similar size, see Citibank.