ots.CorporateNews: KfW / HSBC France and KfW sign their first gl...

Frankfurt (ots) - HSBC France and KfW Förderbank (KfW promotional bank) today signed their first agreement for a global loan to finance private homes in France. The loan amounts to EUR 400 million. It is the biggest loan of this kind ever signed with a French commercial bank. The global loan gives HSBC France access to funds which KfW raises at favourable conditions. HSBC will pass these advantages on to its clients. The global loan will be used to extend individual loans to finance the purchase or construction of private homes, notably by young first-time private real estate buyers. This agreement offers HSBC France the opportunity to strengthen its ambitious strategy of developing clients through lending. Attractive financing conditions will be available to the clients and they will obtain loans at fixed or variable terms depending on their individual needs. The global loan is one of the promotional products offered by KfW which has increasingly aroused the interest of European banks. In Western Europe it is available in three variants - for private housing construction, for SMEs and for small infrastructure projects. Global loans offer the banks flexible scope for lending and are easy to handle. The global loan concluded on 21 March 2007 is the first joint transaction conducted by HSBC France and KfW in this area. This loan adds a new dimension to the relationship between the two institutions, which, although long-standing and close, has hitherto mainly focused on joint capital market activities. Press contact: HSBC France: Coralie Houel, Tel.: +33(0)140 703533, coralie.houel@hsbc.fr KfW: Christine Volk, Tel.: +49 (0)69 7431-3867, christine.volk@kfw.de Note to editors: HSBC Group: HSBC Holdings plc serves over 125 million customers worldwide through around 10,000 offices in 82 countries and territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa. With assets of some USD1,861 billion at 31 December 2006, HSBC is one of the world's largest banking and financial services organisations. HSBC is marketed worldwide as 'the world's local bank'. KfW: KfW is the promotional bank of the Federal Republic of Germany, established in 1948 as a public law institution. With a balance sheet total of EUR 360 billion at 31 December 2006 it is one of the ten largest banks in Germany. Its owners are the Federal Republic of Germany (80%) and the German federal states (Länder) (20%). KfW's business areas include: - domestic and European investment finance (small and medium-sized enterprises, business - start-ups, housing, education, infrastructure, environmental and climate protection), - export and project finance, - financial assistance to developing and transition countries and - advisory and other services. Originaltext: KfW Digitale Pressemappe: http://presseportal.de/story.htx?firmaid=41193 Pressemappe via RSS : feed://presseportal.de/rss/pm_41193.rss2 For further information: Christine Volk, Tel: 069 7431-3867, E-Mail: christine.volk@kfw.de KfW, Palmengartenstraße 5-9, 60325 Frankfurt Abteilung Konzernkommunikation (KOM) Tel. 069 7431-4400, Fax: 069 7431-3266, E-Mail: presse@kfw.de, Internet: www.kfw.de (MORE TO FOLLOW) Dow Jones Newswires

   March 21, 2007 08:27 ET (12:27 GMT)- - 08 27 AM EDT 03-21-07