HSBC BANK ARMENIA LAUNCHES PROGRAMMING IN CIS

ARKA
Sep 22, 2008

YEREVAN, September 22. /ARKA/. HSBC Bank Armenia has launched IT
programming of HSBC branches across the CIS, the bank’s press service
reports.

The purpose of the program is to create a universal banking network
in Armenia, Georgia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Russia. Thanks to this,
HSBC Bank Armenia will become a regional IT service center. The bank
has been chosen for this role thanks to its skilled IT specialists
with good knowledge of Russian, said Peter Herbert, chief operating
officer of HSBC Bank Armenia, hoping for further progress in the
coming 18 months.

In his turn, the bank’s CEO Timothy Rex Slater said the program would
help cut expenses in the IT sector.

HSBC Bank Armenia was the first international bank to open in Armenia
in 1996. The bank is a joint venture between the HSBC Group, which
has a 70% ownership, and members of overseas Armenian businesses.

It is one of the leading banks in the foreign exchange market. HSBC
Bank Armenia offers a wide range of products and services to individual
as well as corporate customers in Armenia and abroad. HSBC has 10
branches in Yerevan. The bank’s assets and capital totaled 105.5bln
and 13.2bln respectively as of end-June. Its first quarterly profit
amounted to 1.7bln drams, with the balance sheet profit on the account
totaling 10.5bln drams.

Armenia recorded 3.7% inflation between Decem ber and
August.