Announcement

23 August 2010

ANNOUNCEMENT

HSBC Holdings plc has entered into exclusive discussions with Old Mutual plc about the possible acquisition of a majority stake in Nedbank Group Limited, South Africa's fourth largest banking group by total assets.

The discussions are ongoing and if successfully concluded would be conditional on, among other matters, obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals.

Further announcements will be made in due course as appropriate.

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HSBC Holdings plc

HSBC Holdings plc, the parent company of the HSBC Group, is headquartered in London. The Group serves customers worldwide from around 8,000 offices in 87 countries and territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, North America, Latin America and the Middle East. With assets of US$2,418 billion at 30 June 2010, HSBC is one of the world's largest banking and financial services organisations. HSBC is marketed worldwide as 'the world's local bank'.