Core subsidiary of the HSBC group. Likely to operate following ring-fencing with regulatory capital ratios close to the parent's targets. Reasonable geographic diversification. Overweight position in corporate banking and capital markets activities following the planned transfer of eligible retail and commercial banking business to the new U.K. ring-fenced bank. Ring-fencing reduces HSBC Bank's granular, annuity-like revenues and stable funding sources. Earnings are likely to fall short of the parent's groupwide targets. S&P Global Ratings' stable outlook on HSBC Bank PLC (HBEU) mirrors that on its ultimate parent HSBC Holdings PLC (HSBC) and reflects our expectation that HSBC will maintain a robust balance sheet and performance level over our two-year horizon. Although we identify a negative economic risk trend in Hong
