HSBC Holdings plc is a British multinational investment bank and financial services holding company. It is the second largest bank in Europe behind BNP Paribas, with total equity of US$206.777 billion and assets of US$2.958 trillion as of December 2021. In 2021, HSBC had $10.8 trillion in assets under custody (AUC) and $4.9 trillion in assets under administration (AUA), respectively. HSBC traces its origin to a hong in British Hong Kong, and its present form was established in London by the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation to act as a new group holding company in 1991; its name derives from that company's initials.