WASHINGTON – The Department of Justice announced today that First Niagara Bank N.A. and HSBC Bank USA N.A. have agreed to sell 26 branch offices in the Buffalo, N.Y., area with approximately $1.6 billion in deposits, to resolve antitrust concerns from the sale of HSBC’s branch network in upstate New York to First Niagara. HSBC is selling 195 branches in New York and Connecticut to First Niagara for approximately $1 billion. The department said that, without the divestitures, the acquisition likely would have an adverse effect on competition in the Buffalo area for retail banking or small business banking services. Under the agreement with the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, the companies will divest 26 HSBC branches located in Erie, Niagara and Orleans counties, N.Y. The divestitures will include the commercial loans associated with the divested branches. “With the divestiture, consumers and small businesses in the Buffalo area will continue to enjoy the benefits of competition in banking services,” said Sharis A. Pozen, Acting Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division. The proposed merger is subject to the final approval of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The department said that it will advise the OCC that it will not challenge the merger provided that the parties divest the branch offices specified in the agreement and associated loans and deposits; and provided that the parties commit to the OCC that they will comply with the agreement with the department.
First Niagara Bank N.A., headquartered in Buffalo, is a wholly owned subsidiary of First Niagara Financial Group. First Niagara Bank has about $31 billion in assets and about $19 billion in deposits. It has branch offices in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and Pennsylvania. HSBC Bank USA N.A., headquartered in McLean, Va., is the principal subsidiary of HSBC USA Inc., an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of HSBC North America Holdings Inc. As of June 30, 2011, HSBC Bank USA N.A. has about $195 billion in assets and operates 470 branches throughout the United States. The branches to be divested are: Bank State County Address City Zip Deposits as of June 30, 2011 (000s) HSBC NY Erie 5556 Main St Williamsville 14221 $185,043 HSBC NY Erie 2344 Niagara Falls Blvd Tonawanda 14150 $60,804 HSBC NY Erie 6525 Transit Rd East Amherst 14051 $78,888 HSBC NY Erie 366 Kenmore Ave Buffalo 14223 $80,380 HSBC NY Erie 3107 Bailey Ave Buffalo 14215 $40,937 HSBC NY Erie 2635 Main St Buffalo 14214 $9,853 HSBC NY Erie 201 Amherst St Buffalo 14207 $54,500 HSBC NY Erie 4455 Transit Rd Williamsville 14221 $88,067 HSBC NY Erie 5151 Broadway Depew 14043 $83,916 HSBC NY Erie 703 Ridge Rd Lackawanna 14218 $48,530 HSBC NY Erie 306 West Ferry St Buffalo 14213 $49,346 HSBC NY Erie 2345 Union Rd West Seneca 14224 $113,559 HSBC NY Erie 1017 Broadway Buffalo 14212 $17,867 HSBC NY Erie 1107 Lovejoy St Buffalo 14206 $31,906 HSBC NY Erie 9094 Erie Rd Angola 14006 $41,005 HSBC NY Erie 8591 Main St Eden 14057 $43,765 HSBC NY Erie 4191 North Buffalo St Orchard Park 14127 $59,489 HSBC NY Erie 11 Main St Hamburg 14075 $105,526 HSBC NY Niagara 2952 Saunders Settlement Rd Sanborn 14132 $37,924 HSBC NY Niagara 8301 Niagara Falls Blvd Niagara Falls 14304 $78,000 HSBC NY Niagara 721 Center St Lewiston 14092 $86,889 HSBC NY Niagara 150 Main St Lockport 14094 $108,905 HSBC NY Niagara 5740 South Transit Rd Lockport 14904 $31,510 HSBC NY Niagara 8683 Main St Barker 14012 $24,029 HSBC NY Niagara Main St & Park Ave Middleport 14105 $31,681 HSBC NY Orleans 514 Main St Medina 14103 $51,284
Source: US Department of Justice
