HSBC This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. For the history of the HSBC Group prior to the founding of HSBC Holdings in 1990, see The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. HSBC Holdings plc (traditional Chinese:) is a United Kingdom-based public limited company incorporated in England in 1990, and headquartered in London since 1993.[1] As of 2009, it is both the world's largest banking group and the world's 6th largest company according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine.[3][4] Hong Kong served as the bank's headquarters until 1992 when it moved to London as a condition of completing the acquisition of Midland Bank and as the handover of Hong Kong's sovereignty approached.[5] Today, whilst no single geographical area dominates the group's earnings, Hong Kong still continues to be a significant source of its income. Recent acquisitions and expansion in China are returning HSBC to part of its roots.[6] HSBC has an enormous operational base in Asia and significant lending, investment, and insurance activities around the world. The company has a global reach and financial fundamentals matched by few other banking or financial multinationals.[7] HSBC is listed on the London, New York City, Hong Kong, Paris and Bermuda Stock Exchanges, and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index and the Hang Seng Index. History Development of the bank HSBC (originally the "Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation") was founded in 1865. HSBC Holdings was established in 1990 and became the parent company to The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation in preparation for its purchase of Midland Bank and a change of domicile for the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong. Shares in HSBC Holdings, which gave HSBC a substantial presence in the UK, was completed in 1992. As part of the takeover conditions for the purchase of Midland, HSBC was required to move its world headquarters from Hong Kong to London in 1993. Major acquisitions in South America started with the purchase of Banco Bamerindus of Brazil for $1bn in March 1997[8] and the acquisition of Roberts SA de Inversiones of Argentina for $600m in May 1997.[9] HSBC World Headquarters designed by Norman Foster in London, United Kingdom. In May 1999 HSBC embarked on a major acquisition in the United States with the purchase of Republic National Bank of New York for $10.3bn.[10] Expansion into Continental Europe took place in April 2000 with the acquisition of Crédit Commercial de France, a large French bank for £6.6bn.[11] In July 2001 HSBC bought Demirbank, an insolvent Turkish bank.[12] Then in August 2002 HSBC acquired Grupo Financiero Bital, SA de CV, Mexico's third largest retail bank for $1.1bn.[13] The new headquarters of HSBC Holdings at 8 Canada Square, London officially opened in April 2003.[14] Then in September 2003 HSBC bought Polski Kredyt Bank SA of Poland for $7.8m.[15] In June 2004 HSBC expanded into China buying 19.9% of the Bank of Communications of Shanghai.[16] In the United Kingdom HSBC acquired Marks & Spencer Retail Financial Services Holdings Ltd for £763m in December 2004.[17] Acquisitions in 2005 included Metris Inc, a US credit card issuer for $1.6bn in August[18] and 70.1% of Dar Es Salaam Investment Bank of Iraq in October.[19] In April 2006 HSBC bought the 90 branches in Argentina of Banca Nazionale del Lavoro for $155m.[20] In December 2007 HSBC acquired The Chinese Bank in Taiwan.[21] In May 2008 HSBC acquired IL&FS Investment, an Indian retail broking firm.[22] Subprime crisis In November 2002 HSBC expanded further in the United States. Under the chairmanship of Sir John Bond, it spent £9bn (US$15.5bn) to acquire Household Finance Corporation (HFC), a US credit card issuer and subprime lender.[23] In a 2003 cover story, The Banker noted "when banking historians look back, they may conclude that [it] was the deal of the first decade of the 21st century".[24] Under the new name of HSBC Finance, the division was the second largest subprime lender in the US.[25] In March 2009, HSBC announced that it would shut down the branch network of its HSBC Finance arm in the U.S., leading to nearly 6,000 job losses and leaving only the credit card business to continue operating.[26][27] Chairman Stephen Green stated, "HSBC has a reputation for telling it as it is. With the benefit of hindsight, this is an acquisition we wish we had not undertaken."[28]; analyst Colin Morton said, "the takeover was an absolute disaster". [27][29] Although it was at the centre of the subprime storm, the wider group has weathered the economic crisis better than other global banks. According to Bloomberg, "HSBC is one of world’s strongest banks by some measures."[30] When HM Treasury required all UK banks to increase their capital in October 2007, the group transferred £750 million to London within hours, and announced that it had just lent £4 billion to other UK banks.[31] In March 2009, it announced that it had made US$9.3bn of profit in 2008 and announced a £12.5bn (US$17.7bn; HK$138bn) rights issue to enable it to buy other banks that were struggling to survive.[32] However, uncertainty over the rights' issue's implications for institutional investors caused volatility in the Hong Kong stock market: on 9 March 2009 HSBC's share price fell 24.14%, with 12 million shares sold in the last few seconds of trading.[33] Operations Corporate profile In February 2008, HSBC was named the world's most valuable banking brand by The Banker magazine.[34][35] Not known for marked fluctuations in securities exchanges around the world relative to its rivals, HSBC is more well known in banking circles for its conservative and risk-averse approach in its business operations - a company tradition going back to the 19th century.[36] In its technical management, however, HSBC has recently suffered a series of headline-making incidents in which some customer data were allegedly leaked or simply went missing. Although the consequences turned out to be small, the embarrassing effect on the group's image did not go unnoticed.[37] As of April 2, 2008, according to Forbes magazine, HSBC was the fourth largest bank in the world in terms of assets ($2,348.98 billion), the second largest in terms of sales ($146.50 billion), the largest in terms of market value ($180.81 billion). It was also the most profitable bank in the world with $19.13 billion in net income in 2007 (compared to Citigroup's $3.62 billion and Bank of America's $14.98 billion in the same period).[38] HSBC is by far the largest bank both in the United Kingdom and in Hong Kong and prints most of Hong Kong's local currency in its own name. Since the end of 2005, HSBC has been rated the largest banking group in the world by Tier 1 capital.[39] The HSBC Group has a significant presence in each of the world's major financial markets, with the Americas, Asia Pacific and Europe each representing around one third of the business. With 8,500 offices in 86 countries, 210,000 shareholders, 330,000 staff and 128 million customers worldwide, HSBC arguably has the most international presence among the world's multinational banking giants. The HSBC Group operates as a number of local banks around the world, which explains its advertising tagline "The World's Local Bank."[40] Outlined below are countries which, in 2007, generated the top 20 profit before tax figures, with the addition of the United States as specific issues exclude that country from the top 20 for 2007.[41] For details of other group companies see Category:HSBC. Americas • HSBC Bank Argentina SA has around 150 branches throughout Argentina providing a full range of banking and financial products and services to over 1.2 million customers. • HSBC acquired The Bank of Bermuda Limited in February 2004 for US$1.3bn. Founded in 1889, Bank of Bermuda is a leading provider of fund administration, trust, custody, asset management and banking services. Since the acquisition the group has focused its global efforts in some areas of these services on the island. [42] • HSBC Bank Brasil SA is HSBC’s largest presence in South America. HSBC is now among the ten largest banks in Brazil, with more than 1,700 branches and sub-branches in 550 Brazilian cities. Palacio Avenida: The headquarters of HSBC Bank Brasil, located in Curitiba. • HSBC Bank Canada is the seventh largest bank in Canada, with offices in every province except for Prince Edward Island, and is the largest foreign-owned bank in the country. HSBC has a very strong presence in overseas Chinese communities, especially in Vancouver and Toronto[citation needed]. The bank's headquarters are located in Vancouver, British Columbia. • HSBC Chile The HSBC Group first set up operations in Chile in 1981. Presently, HSBC Bank Chile is focusing on Global Banking and Commercial Bank businesses. • Banco HSBC (Costa Rica) S.A. operates around 40 branches throughout the major cities and is the third largest bank in the country. In the summer of 2007 HSBC acquired Grupo Banistmo in Panama, the owner of Banco Banex in Costa Rica. • HSBC El Salvador, SA is the third largest banking and financial service firm in the country. • HSBC Honduras has 49 branches and is one of the largest banks in the country. HSBC acquired Banco Grupo El Ahorro Hondureño (BGA) when it acquired Banistmo in Panama. Banistmo had bought the bank in 2002, about a year after it was formed from the merger of Banco La Capitalizadora Hondureña (Bancahsa; est. 1948) and the Banco del Ahorro Hondureño. • HSBC Mexico, SA is one of Mexico’s largest banking and financial services companies with over 1,400 branches, 4,800 ATMs and 6 million customers. HSBC purchased Banco Internacional, SA known as Bital, in November 2002, rebranding it overnight in January 2004. • HSBC Panama, SA HSBC's presence in Panama dates back to 1972. In 2000, HSBC Bank USA acquired Chase Manhattan's full-service, stand-alone bank business, which includes retail and wholesale capabilities. The acquisition included 11 full-service branches: seven branches in Panama City, two branches in Colon City, one branch in David and one branch in Chitre. At the time of the acquisition, HSBC operated in Panama as a full-service branch of HSBC Bank plc, with a strong franchise in corporate business as well as five retail branches. The acquisition of Chase Manhattan's business more than doubled HSBC's assets in Panama. Then in 2006, HSBC bought Grupo Banistmo, the largest financial services company in Central America, based in Panama for $1.8bn.[43] • HSBC established HSBC Paraguay SA when it acquired Lloyds TSB Bank Paraguay in 2007. Lloyds TSB had been in Paraguay since 1920 when the Bank of London and the River Plate established a branch in Asunción. • HSBC Bank Peru S.A. In October 2006, HSBC began the first phase of its plan business in Peru, with the aim of meeting small, medium and large companies during the second half of 2007 is implemented and a network of Personal Banking initial agency in Lima that will expand gradually. • HSBC Bank USA NA and HSBC Finance Corporation represent the group’s business in the US, which has been built up via the acquisition of Marine Midland (1980), Republic National Bank (1999), Household International (2003) and Metris Companies (2005) Solstice Capital Group (2006), among others. HSBC Bank USA, headquartered in Mettawa, Illinois (as of 2009), is a full service bank, with a strong branch network in New York State but also operating nationwide. HSBC Finance Corporation focuses on selected lines of consumer lending with a branch network across the US. Asia Pacific HSBC's Hong Kong head office, also designed by Norman Foster The HSBC Global Technology Centre in Pune, India develops software for the entire HSBC group[44]. • HSBC Bank Australia Limited gained its banking licence in 1986. Today, the bank offers a full range of Personal and Commercial services via a network of branches as well as direct channels. • HSBC Bangladesh opened its first branch in 1996 and now has 10 offices there. • HSBC Bank (China) Company Limited and HSBC Rural Bank Company Limited HSBC established its Shanghai branch office on 3 April 1865 and has had a continuous presence in the city since then, except for a break during the Japanese Occupation. Until the economic reforms of the late 1970s, its activities were mainly in inward remittances and export bills, however its activities now span a wider range. HSBC has purchased stakes in various local firms, including 19% of Bank of Communications, 8% of Bank of Shanghai, 16.8% of Ping An Insurance and via its subsidiary Hang Seng Bank, 12.8% of Industrial Bank. In 1996, HSBC was one of the first foreign banks approved to conduct renminbi business in Shanghai. The bank opened a new office in Chengdu and received approval to open a branch in Pudong and upgrade its Dalian office to a branch. • HSBC first opened for business in Hong Kong on 3 March 1865. It is one of three commercial banks that issue Hong Kong dollar banknotes in the Hong Kong SAR and has the largest share by value. The Hang Seng Index for stock prices in Hong Kong is named after the Hang Seng Bank Limited, which is a subsidiary of HSBC since the 1960s. The two banks are today first and second by market share in Hong Kong. • HSBC India. In 1959 HSBC acquired The Mercantile Bank of India, London and China, established in October 1853 in Bombay. HSBC is now one of the fastest growing foreign banks in India, both in domestic banking and support operations for worldwide operations (see Group Service Centres). • HSBC opened its first Indonesian office in Batavia in 1884 to serve the sugar trade. It then expanded its operation to Surabaya in 1896. Later in 1994 HSBC upgraded its Semarang agency, which it had opened in 1878, into a full branch. HSBC twice closed its operations in Indonesia. The first closure was during World War II, though it immediately returned after the war. In the mid-1960s, the Indonesia government forced the bank to close again, but the bank received a new banking license in 1968. In October 2008, HSBC paid US$608 million to acquire 89% of Bank Ekonomi, which had 2,200 staff, 86 branches, and about US$1.8 billion in assets. The acquisition made HSBC the third largest bank in the country, and gave it a total of 190 branches in 24 cities. • HSBC opened its first office in Japan in 1866 and maintains three companies there: its banking arm, HSBC Securities Japan Limited, and HSBC Global Asset Managament.[45] • HSBC Bank Malaysia Berhad traces its history back to the opening of the first HSBC office in Penang in 1884. The bank later became an issuer of currency notes for the Malaysian government. In 1994, HSBC became the first foreign bank to incorporate locally, forming Hongkong Bank Malaysia Berhad (now HSBC Bank Malaysia Berhad). The bank today provides a full range of personal and commercial financial services. HSBC Holdings plc in London UK is set to shift a significant number of jobs from Britain to its new operational headquarters in Cyberjaya, Malaysia. HSBC operates a call centre in Cyberjaya,Malaysia, a cybercity in Malaysia. • HSBC started its operations in Pakistan in 1982. Since then it has expanded to all major cities of Pakistan and operates as a full service bank. It currently has 12 offices: four in Karachi, two each in Lahore and Islamabad, and one each in Rawalpindi, Sialkot, Multan and Faisalabad. The head-office is based in Karachi. • The HSBC Group is represented in the Philippines through The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, and its subsidiary, the locally-incorporated HSBC Savings Bank (Philippines) Inc. HSBC opened its first branch in the Philippines in Binondo in November 1875. In 1883, a second branch was opened in Iloilo to serve the growing sugar industry. In 1971, the branch in Binondo was moved to Makati City. Ten years later, in 1981, the Iloilo branch was closed and a new branch in Ortigas Center, Pasig City, was opened. • HSBC Singapore operates as a full service bank with its headquarters in Collyer Quay. It is an approved Primary Dealer in the Singapore Government Securities Market and an Approved Bond Intermediary, with over a hundred staff operating one of the largest integrated dealing rooms in Singapore. • HSBC (Sri Lanka) traces its presence there to 1 July 1892. In 1882, HSBC appointed Delmege Reid and Co., which became Delmege Forsyth and Co. Ltd., as its agent in Colombo. In 1892, after the collapse of the New Oriental Banking Corporation HSBC saw an opportunity and established a branch. • HSBC (Thailand) initially opened a branch in Bangkok in 1888, becoming the first commercial bank in the country. In 1889 HSBC issued the first banknotes in Thailand. Later, in 1905, HSBC joined with France's Banque de l'Indochine to issue the first foreign loan to the Thai government for its railroad construction project. • HSBC Bank (Vietnam) Company Limited HSBC has had a long history in Vietnam, having opened a branch in Saigon (present-day Ho Chi Minh City) in 1870. The branch operated for over 100 years, until its closure in 1975. In 1992, the bank opened representative offices in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) and Hanoi; HSBC upgraded the office in HCMC to a full-service branch in August 1995. Europe • HSBC opened its Prague Branch in May 1997. • HSBC SA operates around 380 branches in France since the takeover of Credit Commercial de France, primarily operating under the HSBC brand. HSBC France is now the HSBC Group’s lead bank in the Eurozone, focusing on certain capital market products for a global audience, and high net worth and international business in France. • HSBC Trinkaus & Burkhardt AG traces its origins to 1785. It has operations in private, commercial and investment banking and asset management. • HSBC Hellas HSBC has been operating in Greece since 1981. In 2001, HSBC acquired Barclay's operations in Greece, which amounted to 13 branches and included fund management. • HSBC Bank Malta plc is one of the largest banks in Malta. It is a listed company but its majority shareholder is the HSBC Group. HSBC Bank Malta traces its origins back to the founding of the Anglo-Egyptian Bank in 1864, which makes it the second oldest bank in Malta. • HSBC has limited operations in Poland - mainly private/offshore banking. • HSBC (Spain) dates back to the establishment of a branch in Madrid in 1982. • HSBC Private Bank is the Swiss operating subsidiaries of the group's Private Banking business, with 12 locations in the country. • HSBC Bank plc is one of the "Big Five" high street banks in the UK, maintaining a large network of branches in England and Wales, with a smaller presence in Scotland and Northern Ireland. It acquired this presence in 1992 with the acquisition of Midland Bank plc. It also operates the previously Midland-owned telephone and internet bank First Direct, the consumer lending brand Beneficial Finance, and the financial services divisions of Marks & Spencer and the John Lewis Partnership. • HSBC Bank AS is now the fifth largest private bank in Turkey, having expanded through internal financing and via acquisition since entering the market in 1990. The bank has a network of around 330 branches, offering products and services to corporate, commercial and personal customers, both under the HSBC brand as well as the Advantage brand. • In Russia, HSBC operates through HSBC Bank Ltd (RR), which is the 96th largest bank in the country and is an affiliate of HSBC Bank plc. Middle East and Africa • HSBC Algeria commenced operating in 2008, after HSBC received permission in 2007 from the Bank of Algeria to establish a subsidiary. The branch has a capital of 2,5 billion dinars, or about 25 million euros, which it will increase to 3,6 billion dinars (36 million euros) within three years. It is headed by an Algerian, Rachid Sekak, the former head of foreign debt at the Bank of Algeria, who had earlier came from HSBC's operations in Paris.[46] • HSBC Bank Armenia cjsc is a 70 per cent indirectly owned subsidiary of HSBC Bank. Armenian business interests own the remaining equity. The bank began operations as Midland Armenia Bank in Yerevan in March 1996 and was the first international bank to open in Armenia. It is one of the leading banks in the foreign exchange market. • HSBC Bank Egypt SAE traces its origins to a joint-venture bank established in 1982. In 2001 HSBC was able to increase its ownership stake from 40% to 94.5%, after which it rebranded the bank as part of the HSBC group. • HSBC Bank Georgia jsc opened its first branch in Tbilisi, Georgia June 2008 and a second one in 2009. Its offer as presented on the bank's website is tailored for corporate customers and private/offshore banking. • In the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the HSBC Group is represented by HSBC Bank Middle East Limited, the largest and most widely represented international bank in the Middle East. HSBC's presence dates back to its acquisition in 1959 of British Bank of the Middle East, which had been present in Jordan since 1889. • HSBC dates its presence in Lebanon to 1949. HSBC has branches located in St. Georges Bay, Dora, Ras Beirut, Verdun and Zouk. • HSBC Bank Middle East Limited . HSBC Oman represents a key part of HSBC Bank Middle East's business since 1959, with 6 branches and 3 customer services outlets. HSBC in Oman offers a full range of Personal Financial Services such as Current and Savings Accounts, Time Deposits, packaged financial products like HSBC Premier and STATUS, Credit Cards, Personal Loans and Home Loans. • SABB (The Saudi British Bank) In Saudi Arabia HSBC is represented by The Saudi British Bank, which is a 40% owned affiliate. HSBC is also a joint venture partner in HSBC Saudi Arabia Limited, the Kingdom’s first full service independent investment bank. • HSBC Bank Middle East Limited The United Arab Emirates represents a key part of HSBC Bank Middle East's business, with 16 branches and the firm's head office located here. • HSBC Bank Qatar provides a wide range of banking services for both corporate and individual customers in Qatar. HSBC is the largest foreign bank in Qatar and has five branches, in Doha Main Office, Al Sadd, West Bay, FTB and Grand Hamad Street as well as a large network of ATMs at 21 different locations. • HSBC established an indirect presence in Sub-Saharan Africa in 1981 through Equator Bank, a joint venture with Nedbank and the bank's executives, and entered the South African market in 1995 with a representative office. In 2003, HSBC converted the reop office in Johannesburg to a branch. The Johannesburg branch is now the regional management office for all of HSBC's Sub-Saharan Africa activities and offers corporate banking, transaction banking, investment banking, treasury and capital markets services to HSBC's major multinational clients, large local corporate and financial institutions, and governments. HSBC Securities (South Africa) offers equities services. Global product lines and programmes Group Service Centres As a cost saving measure HSBC is offshoring processing work to lower cost economies in order to reduce the cost of providing services in developed countries. These locations take on work such as data processing and customer service, but also internal software engineering at Pune, Hyderabad (India), Vishakhapatnam (India), Kolkata (India), Guangzhou (China), and Curitiba (Brazil). Chief Operating Officer Alan Jebson said in March 2005 that he would be very surprised if fewer than 25,000 people were working in the centres over the next three years: “I don’t have a precise target but I would be surprised if we had less than 15 (global service centres) in three years’ time.” He went on to say that each centre cost the bank from $20m to $30m to set up, but that for every job moved the bank saves about $20,000 (£10,400).[47] Trade unions, particularly in the US and UK, blame these centres for job losses in developed countries, and also for the effective imposition of wage caps on their members.[47] Currently, HSBC operates centers out of eight countries, including Brazil (Curitiba), The Czech Republic (Ostrava), India (Hyderabad, Bangalore, Visakhapatnam, Mumbai, Gurgaon, Kolkata and Pune), China (Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen), Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur), Poland (Krakow), Sri Lanka (Rajagiriya) and Philippines (Manila). The Malta trial for a UK high value call centre has resulted in a growing operation that country. An option under consideration is reported to be a processing centre in Vietnam to access the French skills of the population and therefore cut costs in the bank’s French operations. On June 27, 2006, HSBC reported that a "small number" of customers had suffered from fraud totaling £233,000 after an employee at the Bangalore call centre supplied confidential customer information to fraudsters.[48] HSBC Private Bank HSBC Private Bank [49] is the group's private banking operation, providing private banking and trustee services to wealthy individuals and their families worldwide. The Private Bank has in excess of 60 offices worldwide, with the major centres being Miami, New York, London, Geneva and Hong Kong. HSBC Premier Centre, Ikebukuro, Japan. HSBC Premier HSBC Premier[50] is the group's premium financial services product. The exact benefits and qualification criteria vary depending on country, but typically require deposits and investments of at least $100,000, £50,000, or €100,000. Alternatively those who have an individual annual income of at least £100,000 paid into their HSBC Premier Bank Account and are a customer of the bank's Independent Financial Advisory Service. Customers have a dedicated Premier Relationship Manager, global 24 hour access to call centres,free banking services and preferential rates. A HSBC Premier customer receives the HSBC Premier services in all countries that offer HSBC Premier, without having to meet that country's qualifying criteria. HSBC Bank International HSBC Bank International[51] is the offshore banking arm of the HSBC Group, focusing on providing offshore solutions and cross border services to expatriates and migrants. It provides a full range of multi-currency personal banking services to a range of customer segments, including a full internet banking and telephone banking service. Sometimes referred to as "HSBC Offshore", the business also offers independent financial planning, and has representative offices all over the world, often working alongside local HSBC operations in those regions. HSBC Bank International originated from the business started by Midland Bank and is based in the Channel Islands with further operations on the Isle of Man. Its operations in the Channel Islands are centred around its registered headquarters on the seafront in St Helier, Jersey. Named 'HSBC House', the building comprises departments such as Premier, Global Funds & Investments, e-Business and a 24 hour 'Direct Banking Centre'. HSBCnet HSBCnet[52] is a global service that caters to local business needs by offering specialised functionality for different regions worldwide. The system provides access to transaction banking functionality - ranging from payments and cash management to trade services features - as well as to research and analytical content from HSBC. It also includes foreign exchange and money markets trading functionality. The system is used widely by HSBC's high-end corporate and institutional clients served variously by the bank's global banking and markets, commercial banking and global transaction banking divisions. HSBCnet is also the brand under which HSBC markets its global e-commerce proposition to its corporate and institutional clients. HFC Bank (UK Operation) is a wholly owned subsidiary, with 135 High Street branches in the UK selling loans to the "sub-prime" market. During 2007 and 2008, has been trying to fend off a union recognition campaign by the Trade Union Unite. HSBC Direct HSBC Direct is a telephone/online direct banking operation which attracts customers through mortgages, accounts and savings. It was first launched in the USA[53] in November 2005 and is now available in Britain, Canada,[54] Taiwan[55], South Korea[56] and France. Poland is launching business direct in September 2009. Brand and advertising The group announced in November 1999 that the HSBC brand and the hexagon symbol would be adopted as the unified brand in all the markets where HSBC operates, with the aim of enhancing recognition of the group and its values by customers, shareholders and staff throughout the world. Logo The hexagon symbol was originally adopted by The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation as its logo in 1983. It was developed from the bank’s house flag, a white rectangle divided diagonally to produce a red hourglass shape. Like many other Hong Kong company flags that originated in the 19th century, and because of its founder's nationality, the design was based on the cross of Saint Andrew. The logo was designed by graphic artist Henry Steiner. The 2004 Jaguar car, being driven by Mark Webber. Sponsorship Having sponsored the Jaguar Racing Formula One team since the days of Stewart Grand Prix, HSBC ended its relationship with the sport when Red Bull purchased Jaguar Racing from Ford. HSBC has now switched its focus to golf, taking title sponsorship of events such as the HSBC World Match Play Championship, HSBC Women's World Match Play Championship (now defunct), HSBC Champions and HSBC Women's Champions. In football HSBC sponsors French club AS Monaco and Mexican club C.F. Pachuca, and in rugby league, HSBC sponsors Telford Raiders in the Rugby League Conference. In Australia, HSBC sponsors the New South Wales Waratahs rugby team in the Super 14 rugby union competition, as well as the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League. In the United States, HSBC owns the naming rights to the home arena of the National Hockey League's Buffalo Sabres until 2026. HSBC’s other sponsorships are mainly in the area of education, health and the environment. In November 2006, HSBC announced a $5 million partnership with SOS Children as part of Future First.[57] HSBC sponsors the Great Canadian Geography Challenge, which has had around 2 million participants in the past 12 years. Since 2001, HSBC has sponsored the Celebration of Light, an annual musical fireworks competition in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. In 2007 HSBC announced it would be a sponsor of the National Hockey League's Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames. HSBC has also sponsored a professional gaming team that was disbanded late 2007. HSBC sponsored the 2009 British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa.[58] HSBC is the official banking partner of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships, providing banking facilities on site and renaming the Road to Wimbledon junior event, as The HSBC Road to Wimbledon National 14 and Under Challenge.[59] Customer groups HSBC splits its business into four distinct groups: Personal financial services HSBC provides more than 100 million customers worldwide with a full range of personal financial services, including current and savings accounts, mortgage loans, car financing, insurance, credit cards, loans, pensions and investments. HSBC was recently rated the worst in customer service by Forrester Research, which asked bank customers to rank their banks.[60] Commercial banking HSBC provides financial services to small, medium-sized and middle-market enterprises. The group has almost 2.5 million of such customers, including sole proprietors, partnerships, clubs and associations, incorporated businesses and publicly quoted companies. Global banking and markets Private banking Main article: HSBC Private Bank HSBC Private Bank is the marketing name for the private banking business conducted by the principal private banking subsidiaries of the HSBC Group worldwide. HSBC Private Bank, together with the private banking activities of HSBC Trinkaus, known collectively as Group Private Banking, provides services to high net worth individuals and their families through 93 locations in some 42 countries and territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa. As of December 2007, profits before tax were US$1,511 million and combined client assets under management were US$494 billion. In September 2008, HSBC announced that it would combine its two Swiss private banks under one brand name in 2009, with HSBC Guyerzeller and HSBC Private Bank to be merged into one legal entity, under the newly appointed CEO of HSBC Private Bank, Alexandre Zeller.[61]

The Motley Fool's Fiscal Fitness Boot Camp is in session! Every weekday this month, we'll walk you through a fresh money-saving/money-making tip as we work toward finding $2,000 in savings you didn't know you had.

Last week, we honed our negotiation chops by talking our way into better deals on cable TV and credit card interest rates. How'd you do? Some Shine members totally scored (see their comments here). For example, "Sun" called and got her credit card interest rates and payments lowered. "Heidi" advised those who didn't get good results to call back later and talk to a different service rep. "QuickDrive" -- a former cable company employee -- shared a few tips on getting a lower bill. Be courteous, don't call every month (it'll raise red flags), and ask simply if there's a better price or a special available.

Today's Fiscal Fitness task will be a breeze in comparison: Get ready to make a phone call that could shave as much as $500 off your car insurance premiums.

Up your deductible and pocket $328
Scoring better rates on car insurance is simply a matter of asking the right questions and being willing to take on a bit of the insurer's risk.

If your current deductible is anywhere south of $500, you're probably paying a premium for your coverage, according to the Insurance Information Institute.

Simply increasing your deductible from $200 to $500 could reduce the cost of collision and comprehensive coverage by 15% to 30%. How does that translate into actual dollars-and-cents savings? Well, with the average annual premium around $820, that one move could put $123 to $246 back in your pocket. Increase your deductible to $1,000, and we're talking 40% or more in savings on your premium, or $328-plus.

Remember, the higher your deductible, the more money you will pay out-of-pocket before your coverage will kick in. Still, given the hair-trigger temper of insurers these days -- dropping customers like last-minute prom dates at the first sign of trouble -- paying for small claims with the money you save on premiums is a prudent move. The cleaner your record, the better your rates.

If you already have a high deductible, don't click away just yet. There are plenty of other ways to cut the costs of insuring your automobiles.

Drive less and save!
High gas prices got a lot of people in the public-transportation habit. If you've stuck with it -- or for some other reason are driving less -- Mother Earth isn't the only one showing her appreciation.

According to a SmartMoney survey of major auto insurers, driving fewer than 7,500 miles annually can earn you discounts of 10% to 34% on your premium from insurers like State Farm and Progressive. Customers whose one-way commute clocks in at less than 10 miles may be eligible for an additional 5% discount at some insurers. Insurers require different levels of proof, ranging from a simple phone call letting them know you're spending less time behind the wheel to using an electronic mileage/speed diagnostic device.

Every little bit helps: A 10% discount means $82 off the average annual cost of coverage.

Brag to the sales rep for even more savings
As long as you're on the horn chatting up the insurance company rep, inquire about other potential discounts. The Insurance Information Institute has a checklist of discounts that can lower your insurance costs, including:

* Insuring more than one car.
* No accidents in three years.
* No moving violations in three years.
* Drivers over 50-55 years of age.
* Taking a driver training course.
* Taking a defensive driving course (see "More ways to save" below for details).
* Having a car with an antitheft device.
* Having a car with safety features such as air bags, antilock brakes or daytime running lights.
* Being a student with good grades.
* Combining your auto and homeowners coverage with the same company.
* Having college students away from home.
* Being a longtime customer.

The list may seem long, but the savings can stack up significantly. For example, combining your homeowners and auto coverage is often worth a 10% to 20% discount. Young drivers who are students acing their classes could get a 25% break. Parents who shipped Junior to college at least 100 miles away could cut their costs by as much as 40%.

Gold This article is about the metal. For the color, see Gold (color). For other uses, see Gold (disambiguation). Gold (pronounced /'go?ld/) is a chemical element with the symbol Au (Latin: aurum, "shining dawn") and an atomic number of 79. It has been a highly sought-after precious metal for coinage, jewelry, and other arts since the beginning of recorded history. The metal occurs as nuggets or grains in rocks, in veins and in alluvial deposits. Gold is dense, soft, shiny and the most malleable and ductile pure metal known. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Gold is one of the coinage metals and has served as a symbol of wealth and a store of value throughout history. Gold standards have provided a basis for monetary policies. It also has been linked to a variety of symbolisms and ideologies. A total of 161,000 tonnes of gold have been mined in human history, as of 2009.[1] This is roughly equivalent to 5.175 billion troy ounces or, in terms of volume, about 8,333 cubic metres, and could be valued at just under six trillion United States dollars at early March 2010 prices. Although primarily used as a store of value, gold has many modern industrial uses including dentistry and electronics. Gold has traditionally found use because of its good resistance to oxidative corrosion and excellent quality as a conductor of electricity. Chemically, gold is a transition metal and can form trivalent and univalent cations in solutions. Compared with other metals, pure gold is chemically least reactive, but it is attacked by aqua regia (a mixture of acids), forming chloroauric acid, but not by the individual acids, and by alkaline solutions of cyanide. Gold dissolves in mercury, forming amalgam alloys, but does not react with it. Gold is insoluble in nitric acid, which dissolves silver and base metals. This property is exploited in the gold refining technique known as "inquartation and parting". Nitric acid has long been used to confirm the presence of gold in items, and this is the origin of the colloquial term "acid test", referring to a gold standard test for genuine value. Characteristics Native gold nuggets Gold nuggets found in Arizona Gold is the most malleable and ductile of all metals; a single gram can be beaten into a sheet of 1 square meter, or an ounce into 300 square feet. Gold leaf can be beaten thin enough to become translucent. The transmitted light appears greenish blue, because gold strongly reflects yellow and red.[2] Such semi-transparent sheets also strongly reflect infrared light, making them useful as infrared (radiant heat) shields in visors of heat-resistant suits, and in sun-visors for spacesuits.[3] Gold readily creates alloys with many other metals. These alloys can be produced to modify the hardness and other metallurgical properties, to control melting point or to create exotic colors (see below). Gold is a good conductor of heat and electricity and reflects infrared radiation strongly. Chemically, it is unaffected by air, moisture and most corrosive reagents, and is therefore well-suited for use in coins and jewelry and as a protective coating on other, more reactive, metals. However, it is not chemically inert. Common oxidation states of gold include +1 (gold(I) or aurous compounds) and +3 (gold(III) or auric compounds). Gold ions in solution are readily reduced and precipitated out as gold metal by adding any other metal as the reducing agent. The added metal is oxidized and dissolves allowing the gold to be displaced from solution and be recovered as a solid precipitate. High quality pure metallic gold is tasteless; in keeping with its resistance to corrosion (it is metal ions which confer taste to metals). In addition, gold is very dense, a cubic meter weighing 19,300 kg. By comparison, the density of lead is 11,340 kg/m3, and that of the densest element, osmium, is 22,610 kg/m3. Color Different colors of Ag-Au-Cu alloys Whereas most other pure metals are gray or silvery white, gold is yellow. This color is determined by the density of loosely bound (valence) electrons; those electrons oscillate as a collective "plasma" medium described in terms of a quasiparticle called plasmon. The frequency of these oscillations lies in the ultraviolet range for most metals, but it falls into the visible range for gold due to subtle relativistic effects that affect the orbitals around gold atoms.[4][5] Common colored gold alloys such as rose gold can be created by the addition of various amounts of copper and silver, as indicated in the triangular diagram on the right. Alloys containing palladium or nickel are also important in commercial jewelry as these produce white gold alloys. Less commonly, addition of manganese, aluminium, iron, indium and other elements can produce more unusual colors of gold for various applications.[6] Isotopes Main article: Isotopes of gold Gold has only one stable isotope, 197Au, which is also its only naturally occurring isotope. 36 radioisotopes have been synthesized ranging in atomic mass from 169 to 205. The most stable of these is 195Au with a half-life of 186.1 days. 195Au is also the only gold isotope to decay by electron capture. The least stable is 171Au, which decays by proton emission with a half-life of 30 µs. Most of gold's radioisotopes with atomic masses below 197 decay by some combination of proton emission, a decay, and ß+ decay. The exceptions are 195Au, which decays by electron capture, and 196Au, which has a minor ß- decay path. All of gold's radioisotopes with atomic masses above 197 decay by ß- decay.[7] At least 32 nuclear isomers have also been characterized, ranging in atomic mass from 170 to 200. Within that range, only 178Au, 180Au, 181Au, 182Au, and 188Au do not have isomers. Gold's most stable isomer is 198 m2Au with a half-life of 2.27 days. Gold's least stable isomer is 177 m2Au with a half-life of only 7 ns. 184 m1Au has three decay paths: ß+ decay, isomeric transition, and alpha decay. No other isomer or isotope of gold has three decay paths.[7] Use and applications Monetary exchange Gold has been widely used throughout the world as a vehicle for monetary exchange, either by issuance and recognition of gold coins or other bare metal quantities, or through gold-convertible paper instruments by establishing gold standards in which the total value of issued money is represented in a store of gold reserves. However, the amount of gold in the world is finite and production has not grown in relation to the world's economies. Today, gold mining output is declining.[8] With the sharp growth of economies in the 20th century, and increasing foreign exchange, the world's gold reserves and their trading market have become a small fraction of all markets and fixed exchange rates of currencies to gold became unsustainable. At the beginning of World War I the warring nations moved to a fractional gold standard, inflating their currencies to finance the war effort. After World War II gold was replaced by a system of convertible currency following the Bretton Woods system. Gold standards and the direct convertibility of currencies to gold have been abandoned by world governments, being replaced by fiat currency in their stead. Switzerland was the last country to tie its currency to gold; it backed 40% of its value until the Swiss joined the International Monetary Fund in 1999.[9] Pure gold is too soft for day-to-day monetary use and is typically hardened by alloying with copper, silver or other base metals. The gold content of alloys is measured in carats (k). Pure gold is designated as 24k. Gold coins intended for circulation from 1526 into the 1930s were typically a standard 22k alloy called crown gold, for hardness. Investment Many holders of gold store it in form of bullion coins or bars as a hedge against inflation or other economic disruptions. However, some economists do not believe gold serves as a hedge against inflation or currency depreciation.[10] The ISO 4217 currency code of gold is XAU. Modern bullion coins for investment or collector purposes do not require good mechanical wear properties; they are typically fine gold at 24k, although the American Gold Eagle, the British gold sovereign, and the South African Krugerrand continue to be minted in 22k metal in historical tradition. The special issue Canadian Gold Maple Leaf coin contains the highest purity gold of any bullion coin, at 99.999% or .99999 finess, while the popular issue Canadian Gold Maple Leaf coin has a purity of 99.99%. Several other 99.99% pure gold coins are available. The Australian Gold Kangaroos was first coined in 1986 as the Australian Gold Nugget. Its kangaroo theme appeared in 1989. In addition, there are several coins of the Australian Lunar Calendar series, and the Austrian Philharmonic. In 2006, the United States Mint began production of the American Buffalo gold bullion coin with a purity of 99.99%. Jewelry Moche gold necklace depicting feline heads. Larco Museum Collection. Lima-Peru Because of the softness of pure (24k) gold, it is usually alloyed with base metals for use in jewelry, altering its hardness and ductility, melting point, color and other properties. Alloys with lower caratage, typically 22k, 18k, 14k or 10k, contain higher percentages of copper, or other base metals or silver or palladium in the alloy. Copper is the most commonly used base metal, yielding a redder color. Eighteen carat gold containing 25% copper is found in antique and Russian jewelry and has a distinct, though not dominant, copper cast, creating rose gold. Fourteen carat gold-copper alloy is nearly identical in color to certain bronze alloys, and both may be used to produce police, as well as other, badges. Blue gold can be made by alloying with iron and purple gold can be made by alloying with aluminium, although rarely done except in specialized jewelry. Blue gold is more brittle and therefore more difficult to work with when making jewelry. Fourteen and eighteen carat gold alloys with silver alone appear greenish-yellow and are referred to as green gold. White gold alloys can be made with palladium or nickel. White 18 carat gold containing 17.3% nickel, 5.5% zinc and 2.2% copper is silver in appearance. Nickel is toxic, however, and its release from nickel white gold is controlled by legislation in Europe. Alternative white gold alloys are available based on palladium, silver and other white metals (World Gold Council), but the palladium alloys are more expensive than those using nickel. High-carat white gold alloys are far more resistant to corrosion than are either pure silver or sterling silver. The Japanese craft of Mokume-gane exploits the color contrasts between laminated colored gold alloys to produce decorative wood-grain effects. Medicine This section is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. You can help by converting this section to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (January 2009) • In medieval times, gold was often seen as beneficial for the health, in the belief that something that rare and beautiful could not be anything but healthy. Even some modern esotericists and forms of alternative medicine assign metallic gold a healing power.[11] Some gold salts do have anti-inflammatory properties and are used as pharmaceuticals in the treatment of arthritis and other similar conditions.[12] However, only salts and radioisotopes of gold are of pharmacological value, as elemental (metallic) gold is inert to all chemicals it encounters inside the body. • In modern times, injectable gold has been proven to help to reduce the pain and swelling of rheumatoid arthritis and tuberculosis.[12][13] • Dentistry. Gold alloys are used in restorative dentistry, especially in tooth restorations, such as crowns and permanent bridges. The gold alloys' slight malleability facilitates the creation of a superior molar mating surface with other teeth and produces results that are generally more satisfactory than those produced by the creation of porcelain crowns. The use of gold crowns in more prominent teeth such as incisors is favored in some cultures and discouraged in others. • Colloidal gold preparations (suspensions of gold nanoparticles) in water are intensely red-colored, and can be made with tightly controlled particle sizes up to a few tens of nanometers across by reduction of gold chloride with citrate or ascorbate ions. Colloidal gold is used in research applications in medicine, biology and materials science. The technique of immunogold labeling exploits the ability of the gold particles to adsorb protein molecules onto their surfaces. Colloidal gold particles coated with specific antibodies can be used as probes for the presence and position of antigens on the surfaces of cells (Faulk and Taylor 1979). In ultrathin sections of tissues viewed by electron microscopy, the immunogold labels appear as extremely dense round spots at the position of the antigen (Roth et al. 1980). Colloidal gold is also the form of gold used as gold paint on ceramics prior to firing. • Gold, or alloys of gold and palladium, are applied as conductive coating to biological specimens and other non-conducting materials such as plastics and glass to be viewed in a scanning electron microscope. The coating, which is usually applied by sputtering with an argon plasma, has a triple role in this application. Gold's very high electrical conductivity drains electrical charge to earth, and its very high density provides stopping power for electrons in the electron beam, helping to limit the depth to which the electron beam penetrates the specimen. This improves definition of the position and topography of the specimen surface and increases the spatial resolution of the image. Gold also produces a high output of secondary electrons when irradiated by an electron beam, and these low-energy electrons are the most commonly used signal source used in the scanning electron microscope. • The isotope gold-198, (half-life: 2.7 days) is used in some cancer treatments and for treating other diseases.[14] Food and drink • Gold can be used in food and has the E Number 175.[15] • Gold leaf, flake or dust is used on and in some gourmet foods, notably sweets and drinks as decorative ingredient.[16] Gold flake was used by the nobility in Medieval Europe as a decoration in food and drinks, in the form of leaf, flakes or dust, either to demonstrate the host's wealth or in the belief that something that valuable and rare must be beneficial for one's health. Gold foil along with silver is sometimes used on the South Asian sweets including Burfi.[17] • Goldwasser (English: Goldwater) is a traditional herbal liqueur produced in Gdansk, Poland, and Schwabach, Germany, and contains flakes of gold leaf. There are also some expensive (~$1000) cocktails which contain flakes of gold leaf.[18] However, since metallic gold is inert to all body chemistry, it adds no taste nor has it any other nutritional effect and leaves the body unaltered.[19] Industry The 220 kg gold brick displayed in Chinkuashi Gold Museum, Taiwan, Republic of China The world's largest gold bar weighs 250 kg. Toi museum, Japan. A gold nugget of 5 mm in diameter (bottom) can be expanded through hammering into a gold foil of about 0.5 square meter. Toi museum, Japan. • Gold solder is used for joining the components of gold jewelry by high-temperature hard soldering or brazing. If the work is to be of hallmarking quality, gold solder must match the carat weight of the work, and alloy formulas are manufactured in most industry-standard carat weights to color match yellow and white gold. Gold solder is usually made in at least three melting-point ranges referred to as Easy, Medium and Hard. By using the hard, high-melting point solder first, followed by solders with progressively lower melting points, goldsmiths can assemble complex items with several separate soldered joints. • Gold can be made into thread and used in embroidery. • Gold is ductile and malleable, meaning it can be drawn into very thin wire and can be beaten into very thin sheets known as gold leaf. • Gold produces a deep, intense red color when used as a coloring agent in cranberry glass. • In photography, gold toners are used to shift the color of silver bromide black and white prints towards brown or blue tones, or to increase their stability. Used on sepia-toned prints, gold toners produce red tones. Kodak published formulas for several types of gold toners, which use gold as the chloride (Kodak, 2006). • As gold is a good reflector of electromagnetic radiation such as infrared and visible light as well as radio waves, it is used for the protective coatings on many artificial satellites, in infrared protective faceplates in thermal protection suits and astronauts' helmets and in electronic warfare planes like the EA-6B Prowler. • Gold is used as the reflective layer on some high-end CDs. • Automobiles may use gold for heat dissipation. McLaren uses gold foil in the engine compartment of its F1 model.[20] • Gold can be manufactured so thin that it appears transparent. It is used in some aircraft cockpit windows for de-icing or anti-icing by passing electricity through it. The heat produced by the resistance of the gold is enough to deter ice from forming.[21] Electronics • The concentration of free electrons in gold metal is 5.90×1022 cm-3. Gold is highly conductive to electricity, and has been used for electrical wiring in some high-energy applications (silver is even more conductive per volume, but gold has the advantage of corrosion resistance). For example, gold electrical wires were used during some of the Manhattan Project's atomic experiments, but large high current silver wires were used in the calutron isotope separator magnets in the project. • Though gold is attacked by free chlorine, its good conductivity and general resistance to oxidation and corrosion in other environments (including resistance to non-chlorinated acids) has led to its widespread industrial use in the electronic era as a thin layer coating electrical connectors of all kinds, thereby ensuring good connection. For example, gold is used in the connectors of the more expensive electronics cables, such as audio, video and USB cables. The benefit of using gold over other connector metals such as tin in these applications is highly debated. Gold connectors are often criticized by audio-visual experts as unnecessary for most consumers and seen as simply a marketing ploy. However, the use of gold in other applications in electronic sliding contacts in highly humid or corrosive atmospheres, and in use for contacts with a very high failure cost (certain computers, communications equipment, spacecraft, jet aircraft engines) remains very common, and is unlikely to be replaced in the near future by any other metal. • Besides sliding electrical contacts, gold is also used in electrical contacts because of its resistance to corrosion, electrical conductivity, ductility and lack of toxicity.[22] Switch contacts are generally subjected to more intense corrosion stress than are sliding contacts. • Fine gold wires are used to connect semiconductor devices to their packages through a process known as wire bonding. Chemistry Gold is attacked by and dissolves in alkaline solutions of potassium or sodium cyanide, and gold cyanide is the electrolyte used in commercial electroplating of gold onto base metals and electroforming. Gold chloride (chloroauric acid) solutions are used to make colloidal gold by reduction with citrate or ascorbate ions. Gold chloride and gold oxide are used to make highly valued cranberry or red-colored glass, which, like colloidal gold suspensions, contains evenly sized spherical gold nanoparticles.[23] History The Turin Papyrus Map Funerary mask of Tutankhamun Jason returns with the golden fleece on an Apulian red-figure calyx krater, ca. 340–330 BC. Gold has been known and used by artisans since the Chalcolithic. Gold artifacts in the Balkans appear from the 4th millennium BC, such as that found in the Varna Necropolis. Gold artifacts such as the golden hats and the Nebra disk appeared in Central Europe from the 2nd millennium BC Bronze Age. Egyptian hieroglyphs from as early as 2600 BC describe gold, which king Tushratta of the Mitanni claimed was "more plentiful than dirt" in Egypt.[24] Egypt and especially Nubia had the resources to make them major gold-producing areas for much of history. The earliest known map is known as the Turin Papyrus Map and shows the plan of a gold mine in Nubia together with indications of the local geology. The primitive working methods are described by Strabo and included fire-setting. Large mines also were present across the Red Sea in what is now Saudi Arabia. The legend of the golden fleece may refer to the use of fleeces to trap gold dust from placer deposits in the ancient world. Gold is mentioned frequently in the Old Testament, starting with Genesis 2:11 (at Havilah) and is included with the gifts of the magi in the first chapters of Matthew New Testament. The Book of Revelation 21:21 describes the city of New Jerusalem as having streets "made of pure gold, clear as crystal". The south-east corner of the Black Sea was famed for its gold. Exploitation is said to date from the time of Midas, and this gold was important in the establishment of what is probably the world's earliest coinage in Lydia around 610 BC.[25] From the 6th or 5th century BC, the Chu (state) circulated the Ying Yuan, one kind of square gold coin. The Romans developed new methods for extracting gold on a large scale using hydraulic mining methods, especially in Spain from 25 BC onwards and in Romania from 150 AD onwards. One of their largest mines was at Las Medulas in León (Spain), where seven long aqueducts enabled them to sluice most of a large alluvial deposit. The mines at Rosia Montana in Transylvania were also very large, and until very recently, still mined by opencast methods. They also exploited smaller deposits in Britain, such as placer and hard-rock deposits at Dolaucothi. The various methods they used are well described by Pliny the Elder in his encyclopedia Naturalis Historia written towards the end of the first century AD. The Mali Empire in Africa was famed throughout the old world for its large amounts of gold. Mansa Musa, ruler of the empire (1312–1337) became famous throughout the old world for his great hajj to Mecca in 1324. When he passed through Cairo in July 1324, he was reportedly accompanied by a camel train that included thousands of people and nearly a hundred camels. He gave away so much gold that it depressed the price in Egypt for over a decade.[26] A contemporary Arab historian remarked: “ Gold was at a high price in Egypt until they came in that year. The mithqal did not go below 25 dirhams and was generally above, but from that time its value fell and it cheapened in price and has remained cheap till now. The mithqal does not exceed 22 dirhams or less. This has been the state of affairs for about twelve years until this day by reason of the large amount of gold which they brought into Egypt and spent there [...] ” —Chihab Al-Umari[27] The European exploration of the Americas was fueled in no small part by reports of the gold ornaments displayed in great profusion by Native American peoples, especially in Central America, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia. The Aztecs regarded gold as literally the product of the gods, calling it "god excrement" (teocuitlatl in Nahuatl).[28] Although the price of some platinum group metals can be much higher, gold has long been considered the most desirable of precious metals, and its value has been used as the standard for many currencies (known as the gold standard) in history. Gold has been used as a symbol for purity, value, royalty, and particularly roles that combine these properties. Gold as a sign of wealth and prestige was made fun of by Thomas More in his treatise Utopia. On that imaginary island, gold is so abundant that it is used to make chains for slaves, tableware and lavatory-seats. When ambassadors from other countries arrive, dressed in ostentatious gold jewels and badges, the Utopians mistake them for menial servants, paying homage instead to the most modestly dressed of their party. There is an age-old tradition of biting gold to test its authenticity. Although this is certainly not a professional way of examining gold, the bite test should score the gold because gold is a soft metal, as indicated by its score on the Mohs' scale of mineral hardness. The purer the gold the easier it should be to mark it. Painted lead can cheat this test because lead is softer than gold (and may invite a small risk of lead poisoning if sufficient lead is absorbed by the biting). Gold in antiquity was relatively easy to obtain geologically; however, 75% of all gold ever produced has been extracted since 1910.[29] It has been estimated that all gold ever refined would form a single cube 20 m (66 ft) on a side (equivalent to 8000 m3).[29] One main goal of the alchemists was to produce gold from other substances, such as lead — presumably by the interaction with a mythical substance called the philosopher's stone. Although they never succeeded in this attempt, the alchemists promoted an interest in what can be done with substances, and this laid a foundation for today's chemistry. Their symbol for gold was the circle with a point at its center (?), which was also the astrological symbol and the ancient Chinese character for the Sun. For modern creation of artificial gold by neutron capture, see gold synthesis. During the 19th century, gold rushes occurred whenever large gold deposits were discovered. The first documented discovery of gold in the United States was at the Reed Gold Mine near Georgeville, North Carolina in 1803.[30] The first major gold strike in the United States occurred in a small north Georgia town called Dahlonega.[31] Further gold rushes occurred in California, Colorado, the Black Hills, Otago, Australia, Witwatersrand, and the Klondike. Because of its historically high value, much of the gold mined throughout history is still in circulation in one form or another. Occurrence Gold ore This 156-ounce (4.85 kg) nugget was found by an individual prospector in the Southern California Desert using a metal detector. Gold's atomic number of 79 makes it one of the higher atomic number elements which occur naturally. Like all elements with atomic numbers larger than iron, gold is thought to have been formed from a supernova nucleosynthesis process. Their explosions scattered metal-containing dusts (including heavy elements like gold) into the region of space in which they later condensed into our solar system and the Earth. On Earth, whenever elemental gold occurs, it appears most often as a metal solid solution of gold with silver, i.e. a gold silver alloy. Such alloys usually have a silver content of 8–10%. Electrum is elemental gold with more than 20% silver. Electrum's color runs from golden silvery to silvery, dependent upon the silver content. The more silver, the lower the specific gravity. Relative sizes of a an 860kg rock ore, and the 30g of gold that can be extracted from it. Toi gold mine, Japan. Gold left behind after pyrite cube dissolved away. Gold is found in ores made up of rock with very small or microscopic particles of gold. This gold ore is often found together with quartz or sulfide minerals such as Fool's Gold, which is a pyrite.[32] These are called "lode" deposits. Native gold is also found in the form of free flakes, grains or larger nuggets that have been eroded from rocks and end up in alluvial deposits (called placer deposits). Such free gold is always richer at the surface of gold-bearing veins owing to the oxidation of accompanying minerals followed by weathering, and washing of the dust into streams and rivers, where it collects and can be welded by water action to form nuggets. Gold sometimes occurs combined with tellurium as the minerals calaverite, krennerite, nagyagite, petzite and sylvanite, and as the rare bismuthide maldonite (Au2Bi) and antimonide aurostibite (AuSb2). Gold also occurs in rare alloys with copper, lead, and mercury: the minerals auricupride (Cu3Au), novodneprite (AuPb3) and weishanite ((Au, Ag)3Hg2). Recent research suggests that microbes can sometimes play an important role in forming gold deposits, transporting and precipitating gold to form grains and nuggets that collect in alluvial deposits.[33] Production Main articles: Gold prospecting, Gold mining, and Gold extraction World gold production trend Gold output in 2005 The entrance to an underground gold mine in Victoria, Australia Pure gold precipitate produced by the aqua regia refining process Gold extraction is most economical in large, easily mined deposits. Ore grades as little as 0.5 g/1000 kg (0.5 parts per million, ppm) can be economical. Typical ore grades in open-pit mines are 1–5 g/1000 kg (1–5 ppm); ore grades in underground or hard rock mines are usually at least 3 g/1000 kg (3 ppm). Because ore grades of 30 g/1000 kg (30 ppm) are usually needed before gold is visible to the naked eye, in most gold mines the gold is invisible. Since the 1880s, South Africa has been the source for a large proportion of the world's gold supply, with about 50% of all gold ever produced having come from South Africa. Production in 1970 accounted for 79% of the world supply, producing about 1,000 tonnes. However by 2007 production was just 272 tonnes. This sharp decline was due to the increasing difficulty of extraction, changing economic factors affecting the industry, and tightened safety auditing. In 2007 China (with 276 tonnes) overtook South Africa as the world's largest gold producer, the first time since 1905 that South Africa has not been the largest.[34] The city of Johannesburg located in South Africa was founded as a result of the Witwatersrand Gold Rush which resulted in the discovery of some of the largest gold deposits the world has ever seen. Gold fields located within the basin in the Free State and Gauteng provinces are extensive in strike and dip requiring some of the world's deepest mines, with the Savuka and TauTona mines being currently the world's deepest gold mine at 3,777 m. The Second Boer War of 1899–1901 between the British Empire and the Afrikaner Boers was at least partly over the rights of miners and possession of the gold wealth in South Africa. Other major producers are the United States, Australia, Russia and Peru. Mines in South Dakota and Nevada supply two-thirds of gold used in the United States. In South America, the controversial project Pascua Lama aims at exploitation of rich fields in the high mountains of Atacama Desert, at the border between Chile and Argentina. Today about one-quarter of the world gold output is estimated to originate from artisanal or small scale mining.[35] After initial production, gold is often subsequently refined industrially by the Wohlwill process or the Miller process. Other methods of assaying and purifying smaller amounts of gold include parting and inquartation as well as cuppelation, or refining methods based on the dissolution of gold in aqua regia. The world's oceans hold a vast amount of gold, but in very low concentrations (perhaps 1–2 parts per 10 billion, e.g. every cubic kilometer of water could contain 10 to 20 kg of gold). But more realistic estimates put the amount of gold on average at 13 parts per trillion;[36] concentrations of 1 ppb seem to have been identified in the discharge of rivers that run though placer deposits. A number of people have claimed to be able to economically recover gold from sea water, but so far they have all been either mistaken or crooks. A so-called reverend, Prescott Jernegan ran a gold-from-seawater swindle in the United States in the 1890s. A British fraudster ran the same scam in England in the early 1900s.[37] Fritz Haber (the German inventor of the Haber process) did research on the extraction of gold from sea water in an effort to help pay Germany's reparations following World War I.[38] Based on the published values of 2 to 64 ppb of gold in seawater a commercially successful extraction seemed possible. After analysis of 4000 water samples yielding an average of 0.004 ppb it became clear that the extraction would not be possible and he stopped the project.[39] No commercially viable mechanism for performing gold extraction from sea water has yet been identified. Gold synthesis is not economically viable and is unlikely to become so in the foreseeable future At the end of 2006, it was estimated that all the gold ever mined totaled 158,000 tonnes[40] and its January 2009 issue, National Geographic magazine writes: "In all of history, only 161,000 tons of gold have been mined, barely enough to fill two Olympic-size swimming pools."[1] This can be represented by a cube with an edge length of about 20.28 meters. The value of this is very limited; at $1000 per ounce, 161,000 tons of gold would have a value of only 5.2 trillion dollars. The average gold mining and extraction costs were about US$317/oz in 2007, but these can vary widely depending on mining type and ore quality; global mine production amounted to 2,471.1 tonnes.[41] Gold is so stable and so valuable that it is always recovered and recycled. There is no true consumption of gold in the economic sense; the stock of gold remains essentially constant while ownership shifts from one party to another.[42] Consumption India is the world's largest consumer of gold, as Indians buy about 25% of the world's gold,[43] purchasing approximately 800 tonnes of gold every year. India is also the largest importer of the yellow metal; in 2008 India imported around 400 tonnes of gold.[44] Chemistry Although gold is a noble metal, it forms many and diverse compounds. The oxidation state of gold in its compounds ranges from -1 to +5, but Au(I) and Au(III) dominate its chemistry. Au(I), referred to as the aurous ion, is the most common oxidation state with soft ligands such as thioethers, thiolates, and tertiary phosphines. Au(I) compounds are typically linear. A good example is Au(CN)2-, which is the soluble form of gold encountered in mining. Curiously, aurous complexes of water are rare. The binary gold halides, such as AuCl, form zig-zag polymeric chains, again featuring linear coordination at Au. Most drugs based on gold are Au(I) derivatives.[45] Au(III) (auric) is a common oxidation state and is illustrated by gold(III) chloride, AuCl3. Au(III) complexes, like other d8 compounds, are typically square planar. Aqua regia (Royal Water), a 1:3 mixture of nitric acid and hydrochloric acid, dissolves it. Nitric acid oxidizes the metal to +3 ions, but only in minute amounts, typically undetectable in the pure acid because of the chemical equilibrium of the reaction. However, the ions are removed from the equilibrium by hydrochloric acid, forming AuCl4– ions, or chloroauric acid, thereby enabling further oxidation. Some free halogens react with gold.[46] Gold also reacts in alkaline solutions of potassium cyanide. With mercury, it forms an amalgam. Less common oxidation states Less common oxidation states of gold include -1, +2, and +5. The -1 oxidation state occurs in compounds containing the Au- anion, called aurides. Caesium auride (CsAu), for example, crystallizes in the caesium chloride motif.[47] Other aurides include those of Rb+, K+, and tetramethylammonium (CH3)4N+.[48] Gold(II) compounds are usually diamagnetic with Au–Au bonds such as [Au(CH2)2P(C6H5)2]2Cl2. The evaporation of a solution of Au(OH)3 in concentrated H2SO4 produces red crystals of gold(II) sulfate, AuSO4. Originally thought to be a mixed-valence compound, it has been shown to contain Au4+2 cations.[49][50] A noteworthy, legitimate gold(II) complex is the tetraxenonogold(II) cation, which contains xenon as a ligand, found in [AuXe4](Sb2F11)2.[51] Gold pentafluoride and its derivative anion, AuF-6, is the sole example of gold(V), the highest verified oxidation state.[52] Some gold compounds exhibit aurophilic bonding, which describes the tendency of gold ions to interact at distances that are too long to be a conventional Au–Au bond but shorter that van der Waals bonding. The interaction is estimated to be comparable in strength to that of a hydrogen bond. Mixed valence compounds Well-defined cluster compounds are numerous.[48] In such cases, gold has a fractional oxidation state. A representative example is the octahedral species {Au(P(C6H5)3)}62+. Gold chalcogenides, such as gold sulfide, feature equal amounts of Au(I) and Au(III). Toxicity Pure metallic (elemental) gold is non-toxic and non-irritating when ingested[53] and is sometimes used as a food decoration in the form of gold leaf. Metallic gold is also a component of the alcoholic drinks Goldschläger, Gold Strike, and Goldwasser. Metallic gold is approved as a food additive in the EU (E175 in the Codex Alimentarius). Although gold ion is toxic, the acceptance of metallic gold as a food additive is due to its relative chemical inertness, and resistance to being corroded or transformed into soluble salts (gold compounds) by any known chemical process which would be encountered in the human body. Soluble compounds (gold salts) such as gold chloride are toxic to the liver and kidneys. Common cyanide salts of gold such as potassium gold cyanide, used in gold electroplating, are toxic both by virtue of their cyanide and gold content. There are rare cases of lethal gold poisoning from potassium gold cyanide.[54][55] Gold toxicity can be ameliorated with chelation therapy with an agent such as Dimercaprol. Gold metal was voted Allergen of the Year in 2001 by the American Contact Dermatitis Society. Gold contact allergies affect mostly women.[56] Despite this, gold is a relatively non-potent contact allergen, in comparison with metals like nickel.[57] Price Main articles: Gold as an investment and Gold standard Gold price per troy ounce in USD since 1960, in nominal US$ and inflation adjusted in 2008 US$. Like other precious metals, gold is measured by troy weight and by grams. When it is alloyed with other metals the term carat or karat is used to indicate the amount of gold present, with 24 carats being pure gold and lower ratings proportionally less. The purity of a gold bar or coin can also be expressed as a decimal figure ranging from 0 to 1, known as the millesimal fineness, such as 0.995 being very pure. The price of gold is determined through trading in the gold and derivatives markets, but a procedure known as the Gold Fixing in London, originating in September 1919, provides a daily benchmark price to the industry. The afternoon fixing was introduced in 1968 to provide a price when US markets are open. Historically gold coinage was widely used as currency; When paper money was introduced, it typically was a receipt redeemable for gold coin or bullion. In an economic system known as the gold standard, a certain weight of gold was given the name of a unit of currency. For a long period, the United States government set the value of the US dollar so that one troy ounce was equal to $20.67 ($664.56/kg), but in 1934 the dollar was devalued to $35.00 per troy ounce ($1125.27/kg). By 1961 it was becoming hard to maintain this price, and a pool of US and European banks agreed to manipulate the market to prevent further currency devaluation against increased gold demand. Swiss-cast 1 kg gold bar On March 17, 1968, economic circumstances caused the collapse of the gold pool, and a two-tiered pricing scheme was established whereby gold was still used to settle international accounts at the old $35.00 per troy ounce ($1.13/g) but the price of gold on the private market was allowed to fluctuate; this two-tiered pricing system was abandoned in 1975 when the price of gold was left to find its free-market level. Central banks still hold historical gold reserves as a store of value although the level has generally been declining. The largest gold depository in the world is that of the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank in New York, which holds about 3%[citation needed] of the gold ever mined, as does the similarly laden U.S. Bullion Depository at Fort Knox. In 2005 the World Gold Council estimated total global gold supply to be 3,859 tonnes and demand to be 3,754 tonnes, giving a surplus of 105 tonnes.[58] Since 1968 the price of gold has ranged widely, from a high of $850/oz ($27,300/kg) on January 21, 1980, to a low of $252.90/oz ($8,131/kg) on June 21, 1999 (London Gold Fixing).[59] The period from 1999 to 2001 marked the "Brown Bottom" after a 20-year bear market.[60] Prices increased rapidly from 1991, but the 1980 high was not exceeded until January 3, 2008 when a new maximum of $865.35 per troy ounce was set (a.m. London Gold Fixing).[61] Another record price was set on March 17, 2008 at $1023.50/oz ($32,900/kg)(am. London Gold Fixing).[61] In the fall of 2009, gold markets experience renewed momentum upwards due to increased demand and a weakening US dollar. On December 2nd 2009, Gold passed the important barrier of US$1200 per ounce to close at $1215.[62] Since April 2001 the gold price has more than tripled in value against the US dollar,[63] prompting speculation that this long secular bear market has ended and a bull market has returned.[64] Symbolism Gold bars at the Emperor Casino in Macau Gold has been highly valued in many societies throughout the ages. In keeping with this it has often had a strongly positive symbolic meaning closely connected to the values held in the highest esteem in the society in question. Gold may symbolize power, strength, wealth, warmth, happiness, love, hope, optimism, intelligence, justice, balance, perfection, summer, harvest and the sun. Great human achievements are frequently rewarded with gold, in the form of gold medals, golden trophies and other decorations. Winners of athletic events and other graded competitions are usually awarded a gold medal (e.g., the Olympic Games). Many awards such as the Nobel Prize are made from gold as well. Other award statues and prizes are depicted in gold or are gold plated (such as the Academy Awards, the Golden Globe Awards, the Emmy Awards, the Palme d'Or, and the British Academy Film Awards). Aristotle in his ethics used gold symbolism when referring to what is now commonly known as the "golden mean". Similarly, gold is associated with perfect or divine principles, such as in the case of Phi, which is sometimes called the "golden ratio". Gold represents great value. Respected people are treated with the most valued rule, the "golden rule". A company may give its most valued customers "gold cards" or make them "gold members". We value moments of peace and therefore we say: "silence is golden". In Greek mythology there was the "golden fleece". Gold is further associated with the wisdom of aging and fruition. The fiftieth wedding anniversary is golden. Our precious latter years are sometimes considered "golden years". The height of a civilization is referred to as a "golden age". In Christianity gold has sometimes been associated with the extremities of utmost evil and the greatest sanctity. In the Book of Exodus, the Golden Calf is a symbol of idolatry. In the Book of Genesis, Abraham was said to be rich in gold and silver, and Moses was instructed to cover the Mercy Seat of the Ark of the Covenant with pure gold. In Christian art the halos of Christ, Mary and the Christian saints are golden. Medieval kings were inaugurated under the signs of sacred oil and a golden crown, the latter symbolizing the eternal shining light of heaven and thus a Christian king's divinely inspired authority. Wedding rings have long been made of gold. It is long-lasting and unaffected by the passage of time and may aid in the ring symbolism of eternal vows before god and/or the sun and moon and the perfection the marriage signifies. In Orthodox Christianity, the wedded couple is adorned with a golden crown during the ceremony, an amalgamation of symbolic rites. In popular culture gold holds many connotations but is most generally connected to terms such as good or great, such as in the phrases: "has a heart of gold", "that's golden!", "golden moment", "then you're golden!" and "golden boy". Gold also still holds its place as a symbol of wealth and through that, in many societies, success.