DBRS Assigns Provisional Rating of AAA to HSBC USA Inc.’s FDIC Guaranteed Notes Issuance

DBRS has today assigned a provisional rating of AAA to the $2 billion 3.125% Guaranteed Notes, due December 16, 2011, issued by HSBC USA Inc. The provisional rating is based on the explicit guarantee provided by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program (TLGP), which is backed by the full faith and credit of the United States. Under the TLGP, the FDIC guarantees payment of qualifying debt issued by eligible U.S. bank holding companies, such as HSBC USA Inc.

The AAA rating reflects DBRS’s opinion as to the guarantor’s ability to honor the guarantee as determined by internal assessment of the sovereign. All other debt ratings, including HSBC USA Inc.’s AA Issuer & Senior Debt rating, remain at their current levels. The trend on all ratings remains Stable.

Finalization of the rating is contingent upon receipt of final documents conforming to information already received.

Note:
All figures are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted.

The applicable methodology is Rating Banks and Bank Holding Companies Operating in the United States, which can be found on our website under Methodologies.

This is a Corporate (Financial Institutions) rating.