YEREVAN, March 15. /ARKA/. HSBC was recognized as The Best Global Trade Finance Bank 2009 for the second year running by Global Trade Review (GTR) magazine, London, UK. The decision was made based on the number of votes submitted by HSBC trade customers worldwide and the votes cast by GTR’s annual readers’ poll on the leading financial institutions in trade finance in 2009.

In a most challenging year, HSBC maintained a clear commitment to meeting its customers’ needs, by providing consistent trade expertise and guidance across multiple markets, enabling customers to depend on HSBC’s trade finance experience globally.

The bank has also further maintained its position as a market leader with the launch of its global trade confidence index in 2009, capturing the views of over 3,500 importers, exporters and traders from 12 markets across the world. The index serves as a unique barometer of trade activity, presenting data that can help the industry detect signs of growing or weakening confidence in key trade finance markets.

“HSBC Armenia made a significant contribution to the Group's success. Notwithstanding the adverse economic conditions throughout the year, we continued to support all components of trade finance in Armenia, and managed to increase total trade-related income by 38%, of which income from imports and guarantees grew by 48% and 17% respectively. However, the most important issue for us remains our customers’ acknowledgment of our ability to support them, by guaranteeing the safety of their cross-border businesses”, said Arthur Petrosyan, Trade and Supply Chain Manager.

HSBC Bank Armenia cjsc was the first international bank to open in Armenia in 1996. The bank is a joint venture between the HSBC Group, which has 70 percent ownership, and members of overseas Armenian businesses. The bank offers a wide range of products and services to individual as well as corporate customers, including personal financial services, commercial banking and treasury and capital markets services. Thanks to the HSBC network in 88 countries and territories, the bank is uniquely positioned to provide truly international services for its customers.

HSBC Bank Armenia has 9 branches and offices in Yerevan, as well as 50 ATMs located throughout the city. The Bank is continuously introducing innovative technologies and first-on-market solutions to achieve top customer service and increase the efficiency of operations. HSBC has launched telephone banking services and internet banking services in 2009, which took customer service to a new level.  -0-